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THE VEGETABLE GARDEX 



A COMPLETE GUIDE 



CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES; 



CONTAINING 



THOROTTGH IMSTntlCTIONS FOB SOWTNG, PLAKTINQ, AMD CULTIVATING ALL 

KINDS OF VEGETABLES ; WITH PLAIN BIEECTIONS FOR PEEP.UtlNG, 

MANURING AND TILLING THE SOIL TO SUIT EACH PLANT ; 

INCLUDING, ALSO, A SUilMAUX OF THE WORK TO 

BE DONE IN A VEGETABLE GARDEN DURING 

EACH MONTH OP THE TEAR. 



^y' : BY JAMES HOGG. 



a^ 



1 



NEW YORK: 

DICK k FITZGERALD, PUBLISHERS, 

No. 18 An:;? Street. 



''''II 






Entered according^ to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by 

DICK &. FITZGERALD, 

iu tlio Office of tho Librarian of Congress, at TVashiugton D, C 



^ .'-P^'^ 
'o " -" 



:^'^ 



PEEFACE. 



Fifty years' experience and observation in horticultural matters 
has made us aware that there is a very numerous class of persons 
throughout the country that need and desu-e instruction in garden- 
ing. These persons are farmers and the business men residiuo- in 
the neighborhood of om* cities, who have plots of groimd varyiuo- 
in extent from one-quarter of an acre to tAvo or more acres peo- 
ple who either do not have laud enough to employ, or do not tind 
it convenient to keep a professional gardener, but rely upon the 
occasional services of a laborer or a groom to cultivate their gi-ounds. 
These men know but little of gai-deu practice, and hence their em- 
ployers have to devote their garden plots to the growth of the more 
common and most easily cultivated vegetables, and this is not 
often done in the best manner. 

It is to such employers that we dedicate this book, so that they 
may be able to direct and instruct those whom they employ, and 
provide them with that knowledge and intelhgence in which they 
are lacking. 

It were foolishness to attempt to prove that a vegetable garden 
is a necessity, or that a large variety of vegetables for the table 
is a luxury and a source of great gustatory pleasure, for that is 
acknowledged by every one. Tet we have been much struck when 
visitiug or travehng in the country, when noting the very limited 
supply and the small number of varieties grown by our country 
friends, especially farmers. Even when there was a good supply, 
the varieties were of such inferior quality that half the pleasure of 
the table was done away with. Lettuces that were as tough as a 
drumhead, tomatoes as empty and tough as an ludia-rabber ball, 
gnarly cucumbers, and peas that reminded one of sawdust or dry 
meal, are not very appetizing adjimcts to a dinner. 

This book is not intended for the professional gardener, yet there 
may be in it some hints or reminders that may be of service to him, 
for progress is made in gardening as ia any other art, and there is 



4 PREFACE. 

much to nnleam as ■^ell as to loam. Wc find mirgelves contin- 
ually being taught some new or improved practice iu the art. 

We have endeavored to make the book as comprehensive and 
concise as possible, so that it might be kept within such a limit of 
cost as would enable the poorest laborer to purchase it— intending 
it for the milUon, and not for the professional few. 

The times given for sowing and planting are those suitable for 
the latitude of New York city ; due allowance must therefore be 
made for places north or south of that latitude. As a general rule, 
a degree southward or northward, as the case may be, is equivalent 
to five or seven days earlier or later. Climates are sometimes local, 
being influenced by various circumstances, such as mountains, for- 
ests, lakes or the sea ; so that the isothermal lines of a country never 
run exactly on the lines of latitude. In such cases allowances 
must be made for such local variations. 

The seedsmen's catalogues contain the names of a multitude of 
varieties, many of which are not of much value as compared with 
others. They have to keep them on hand because there are those 
who, hairing cultivated them for many years, are wedded to them, 
and are slow to acknowledge that improvements can be made ; or 
their particular trade, as in that of market gardeners, requhes size 
or extra earliness, without much reference to their quality. The 
selections we have given are of such varieties as combine the great- 
est number of good qualities without reference to size ; for this, of 
itself, iu the majority of cases, is but of secondary importance, and 
very often indicates coarseness and lack of flavor. 

We have not given any special directions for forcing or forward- 
ing vegetables in frames, as this requires an amount of skill, kiltor 
and attention that few except professional gardeners are possessed 
of, or are capable of bestowing. 

If we find that this book is of service to those for whom it is in- 
tended, we shall, at short intervals, issue three other garden hand- 
books—the " Flower Garden," the "Pitut Garden," and the " Green- 
house and Window Garden." 

JAMES HOGG. 

New York, March 1st, 1877. 



COJSTTElsrTS 



PAGR. 

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 7 

Soils 7 

Situation and Exposure 9 

Laying Out 10 

Implements and Their Use II 

Preparation of the Soil 17 

Drainage !.'< 

Manures i'i 

Rotation of Crops '.f I 

Transplanting :!3 

Cold Frames and Hot-Beds :i5 

Seeds and Seed Sowing 40 

Protecting Vegetables 45 

Preservation of Vegetables 47 

Seed Raising 48 

Insects and Insecticides .">() 

CITLTIVATION OF VEGETABLES oij 

Artichoke ."</! 

Asparagus "i.") 

English Broad Beans 58 

Bush Beans fiO 

Pole Beans rl 

Beet fi2 

Borecole or Kale (;4 

Broccoli CA 

Brussels Sprouts f;fi 

Cahbiige fj7 

Cardoon 71 

Carrot 70 

Cauliflower 73 

Celery 75 

Celeriac ro 

Chervil 81 

Chiccory -. m 

Chives 82 

Colewort 8:i 

Corn 83 

Cress 84 

Cucumber 84 

Dandelion 86 

Egg Plant 87 



6 CONTENTS.. 

PAGB. 

Endive 88 

Fot ticiis 69 

Gallic 90 

Garden Patience 90 

Horsci-Rndisli 91 

Jcnisiilem ArticLoke 92 

Kolil-Kiibi 93 

Leek 93 

Li'ttiKU! 94 

Alavtviiia 97 

Melons 97 

Muslirooms 98 

Mustard 100 

Nasturtium ; 00 

New Zealand Spinach 101 

Okra 101 

Onion 102 

Oraeho or French Spinach 105 

Parsley 105 

Parsnip 107 

Peas lOfS 

Peppers or Capsicums Ill 

Phytolacca 112 

Potato ll;i 

Pumpkin 115 

Kadish 115 

Rhubarb 117 

Rocambole 119 

Ruta-Ba;4-a or Swedish Turnip 119 

Salsify or Oyster Plant 120 

Scolymus 121 

Scorzonera 121 

Sca-Kalc 122 

Shallot 123 

Sorrel 124 

Skirrct 124 

Spinach 125 

Squash 126 

Sweet Potato 126 

Swiss Chard 127 

Tan'apon 128 

Tomato 128 

Turnip 130 

Water-Cress -130 

Wnter-Melon 131 

Pot Herbs 131 

MONTHLY REMINDERS 133 



SOILS. 

The success of a kitchen garden largely depends upon 
the character of the soil and the exposure. Of course in 
tlie majority of cases circumstances control the selection, 
but in a multitude of cases much more suitable selections 
can be made than are made. Especially is this the case 
on the part of persons, who, leaving the cities, select sub- 
urban or rural residences. Beautiful views, commanding 
sites, and numerous other considerations too often deter- 
mine the problem in selecting a rural home, whilst the 
adaptabiUty of the site for gardening pm'poses is rarely, if 
ever, considered ; although upon this point much of the 
enjoyment and comfort of a rural home depends, as well 
as the cost of keeping it up. 

Sandy soils, especially those having a loose, gravelly 
subsoil, are the least retentive of moisture, and accord- 
ingly seriously suffer from drought ; but there are cases in 
which sites having a deep sandy soil, and surrounded by 
higher land, are constantly moist, as the water from the 
higher lands drains or percolates through the substratum 
of the sand, and the action of the sun, in causing evapora- 
tion from the surface, draws up the moisture from below, 
bringing it in contact with the roots of the crops, thereby 



8 SOILS. 

keeping them constantly moist, and preventing tbem from 
Kufl'ering in a cliy time, and so producing excellent crops 
of vegetables. Sandy soils are well adapted for raising 
early vegetables, but are not suited for many midsummer 
crops. 

Ilie more clayey a soil is, the longer it vrill retain water 
and the longer it will be in becoming fit to work in the 
spring ; hence such soils are not adapted for raising early 
crops, but will produce late crops, such as celery and lato 
cabbage. There is, however, a great difference even in 
heavy clay soils. In some the texture or grain is coarse, 
and in others it is very fine. The finer the particles of 
which the clay is composed, the more tenacious of water it 
vill be, and the longer in drying or fitness for working, 
and when dry it will be liable to bake or harden under the 
sun's heat, and so involve great labor in cultivating it. 

The most suitalile soil for gardening purposes is a deep, 
sandy loam, with a somewhat gravelly subsoil. Such a 
soil is generaUy equably moist, will hold moisture longer 
without becoming hard when dry, and speedily gets into 
working order. 

Air, heat and moisture at the roots, as well as at the 
tops, are all uecessaiy to plant-growth; hence, the easier a 
soil can bo pulrerized to a considerable depth, the better 
it is adapted foi- cultivation. This is of such great import- 
ance, that when a choice can be had, always select for a 
garden site one with a good friable subsoil, such as a 
sandy or gravelly clay, through which the surface water 
will freely percolate. In such cases even a poor surface 
soil can be made to produce good crops, and a large ex- 
penditure of money can be saved in the item of drainage. 
Always avoid spongy or water-lodged land, especially if it 
is clayey, as such land requires a large expenditure of 



SITUATION AND EXPOSURE. 9 

money in drainage operations, and even then is generally 
cold and unfitted for early crops. 

Thus poor soils of any kind, unless with a good subsoil, 
cannot be made to bear a large variety of crops, no matter 
what amount of manure is applied. They should be 
devoted to fibrous-rooted crops, such as lettuce, spinach, 
onions, peas, etc.; for tap-rooted crops, like beets, parsnips 
and carrots, will not succeed in them. 

A light or sandy soil will be benefited if worked when 
moist, as it makes it more compact ; on the contrary a clay 
soil should be worked when dry, otherwise it becomes 
pasty, and if hot, dry weather ensues, it hardens or bakes, 
thus preventing the germination of seeds, and checks the 
growth of plants by becoming almost impervious to the 
action of the air, heat and moisture. 



SITUATION AND EXPOSTJEE. 

The kitchen garden should always be sheltered from 
northerly or westerly winds. Naturally, if possible, by 
woods or belts of evergreens, and when these cannot be 
had, then by close fences on the northern and westerly 
boundaries, to such an extent, at least, as to furnish 
shelter for frames and borders for raising a sufQciency of 
early vegetables, according to the size or demands of the 
family. When sheltered by woods or belts of trees, deep 
trenches should be dug between the trees and the garden, 
to prevent the roots of the former from penetrating into 
the soil of the latter, for it is astonishing to what a great 
distance they will send their roots to obtain the benefits of 
the manure applied to the gardeu, and so rob the crops of 
their proper sustenance. 



10 LAYIXQ OUT. 

The best exposure is one sloping to tlie south or south- 
east; next, one to the south-west. The exposures to the 
northerly points of the compass are proportionally bad as 
they approach the north point, which is almost useless for 
general gardening i:)urposes. 

The kitchen garden should he as near the dwelling as 
possible, when not inconsistent w^ith the laying out of the 
grounds, should they be of any extent; and even thou 
provision can often be made for its proximity to the house 
by masking it with ordinary trees and shrubs. Proximity to 
the house is desirable for convenience' sake, for preventing 
depredations, and for affording an oversight of the work- 
men, when a regular gardener is not kept. It is also well to 
have it as near to the stables as possible, provided poultry 
are not kept there, uuless in enclosed runs, as they are 
a great annoyance and source of damage to a garden. 
Where they can be had, a pond, a stream of water, or a 
well are desirable accessories to a kitchen garden, as they 
frequently save a large amount of labor in carrying water 
from a distance. 



LAYING OUT. 



The simplest and best form for a kitchen garden, is a 
parallelogram, with a wide walk through the centre. In 
large gardens this should be seven or eight feet wide, to 
admit the passage of a cart or wagon. In smaller gar- 
dens it shoidd be at least five feet wide, in order to 
allow of the free passage of a wheelbarrow. Eight and 
left from this centre wall; the beds for the dilTerent sorts 
of vegetables may l)e laid out. A border from four (o 
six feet wide should be laid out next to the boundaries, for 
the growing of the smaller vegetables — borders facing to 



IMPLEMENTS AND HOW TO USE THEM. 11 

the south or south-east being very desirable for growing 
early vegetables, and those with a northerly aspect for 
such plants as require shade. Between these side borders 
and the main borders there should be a walk three or four 
feet wide, for the sake of convenience. 

Where there is an abundance of land, it is better to en- 
large the size of the garden in order to work it with the 
plow, to do which is much less expensive than to cultivate 
it with the spado, and it can be far more rapidly done ; an 
object of great importance to our farming community, 
whose agi'icultural operations overdrive them in the 
spring-time, and so unfortunately allow them but little 
time to devote to horticultural work. 

On no account should currant, gooseberry, raspberry or 
other bushes, or any fruit trees, be planted in the kitchen 
garden, for they are a continual annoyance and nuisance, 
always in the way, always robbing the adjoining vegeta- 
bles of their proper nutriment, shading them, and being 
themselves continually injured by the spading and other 
garden operations necessary to growing vegetables. Al- 
ways provide a fruit garden for them, and grow them in 
separate quarters, where each sort can receive its own 
special cultivation. 



IMPLEMENTS AND HOW TO USE THEM. 

All garden tools should be made of the best materials, 
and be as light as possible, consistent with strength. There 
is no economy in using a spade weighing twelve pounds, 
when one weighing eight pounds will do the work, and be 
equally strong. If in spading a piece of ground we turn 
over two thousand spadesful of earth, and in douig so use 
a wrought iron, steel-edged spade, weighing one pound 



12 IMPLEMENTS AND HOW TO USE THEM. 

more than Ui cast steel one, we have simply wasted our 
strength in hlting one ton of iron which has not been of 
the least use to us, and so with every other tool. If we 
take into consideration the numerous strokes which a man 
hoeing has to take during a day's work, a ditlerence of one 
or two ounces in the weight of a hoe becomes quite an item 
in the useless expentliture of strength. Spades, forks, 
hoes and rakes should, therefore, always be made of the 
best cast steel. 

Spades for digging purposes, in pulverizing the soil, are 
now but seldom used among the better class of gardeners, 
the spading fork being substituted for it. This fork is 
about the size and shape oi" a spade, having foui' or five 
fiat tines, about thiee-quarters of an inch wide. Being so 
much lighter than a spade, and exposing so much less sur- 
face to the friction incident to pushing it into the soil, it 
saves a large amount of musculai- expenditure, and our own 
experience is that a man will do one-third more digging in 
a day with one of these forlvs than with the lightest made 
spade, and do it with far less fatigue. The work is also 
better done than with the S])ade, especially if the soil is in 
any way wet, for the spade turns it over in heavy, cheesy 
lumps, whereas the fork, in lifting it, breaks it up and pul- 
verizes it more readily. 

This kind of fork cannot be readily used as a manure 
fork, on account of the width of the tines, and neither can 
a manure fork be used for spading purposes, on account of 
its curvature and the narrowness of the tines— hence it is 
necessary to pro\'ide a manure fork for the handling of the 
manure used. 

The operation of digging is apparently a very simple 
one, yet very few of our laboring men really understand 
it. They will take the spade and run it into the ground in 



IMPLEMENTS AND HOW TO USE THEM. 13 

such a way as to take up a slice two or three inches thick, 
turn it over, break it down and level it, and so leave the soil 
underneath quite untouched, hard and nearly impenetrable 
to the roots of the crop sown or planted on the surface. The 
spade or fork should be entered into the ground in nearly a 
perpendicular direction to its full depth, taking a breadth 
or spit of soil not more than four inches thick, and then lift- 
ing and turning it over, breaking and leveling it down— or, 
in other words, pulverizing it to as great a depth and as 
finely as possible. 

Of hoes there are many patterns, used for different pur- 
poses; the well-known corn hoe is useful for earthing up 
plants and similar purposes, but they are usually too largo 
and clumsy for general garden use. For weeding purposes 
we prefer a six inch English draw hoe, about four inches 
wide. These are made of saw-blado steel, riveted to a 
wrought iron back, 
having an eye into 
which the handle is 
set. They are very 
light and can easily 
be kept shai-p. Some prefer push hoes, as then they do 
not have to walk over the ground they have hoed. 





For stirring the soil the bayonet hoe is very useful, es- 
pecially for seed beds and among very young plants. To 





14 I2IPLEMEXTS AXD HOW TO USE THEil. 

use between the rows of ilie regular crops the prong hoe 
is an excellent implement; it is al- 
so useful in turning over manure, 
I digging potatoes, and for a variety 
I of purposes. Another useful tool 
^ for weeding in seed-beds, or to as- 
sist in hand weeding, is a weed- 
ing hook of the following pattern, 
known as the Excelsior Weeding 
Hook. 

Ii'on rakes have almost gone out 
of use in this country, having been 
largely superseded by cast steel 
rakes, which are much hghter and ' 
do better work. Two or three sizes are necessary in a 
garden of any size, to enable the operation of raking to 
be done in the various widths of rows at which the crops 
are planted. One each of six, ten and fourteen teeth wiU 
be convenient sizes. 

To rake oflF weeds and rubbish no directions are neces- 
sary, but to rake a bed or border level requires some skill 
or sleight of hand. To pulverize the surface soil the rake 
should be firmly held in the hands, the teeth of the rake 
deeply pressed into the soil, and worked backward and 
forward until the desired pulverization is produced, this 
depending upon the size and character of the seed to be 
sown. In dressing off a bed. the rake should be lightly and 
more uprightly held in the hands, and the teeth but 
slightly pressed into the soil, and any small stones or hard 
clods of earth dravm off by a sudden jerk of the rake : both 
cases requiring practice and care to avoid getting the .sur- 
face into cat-hiUs. 
A wooden roller is a very useftd implement in a garden. 



IMPLEMENTS AND HOW TO USE THEM. 



15 



It can be readily and cheaply made in the following man- 
ner: Take a romid log of hard wood eight to ten inches 
in diameter and four or Qxe feet long, and insert in the 
centre of each end a gudgeon projecting a couple of inches, 
to take the eyes of an iron frame and cross handle by 
which to pull it. 

A marker for marking out seven rows at once is made 
by taking a piece of wood about three inches square and 
six feet long, and boring holes in it on one side, a foot 
apart, and inserting in them hard wood teeth — hke harrow 
teeth — six inches long; and on the other side inserting 
them nine inches apart. It should have two handle?, 
so as to enable it to be drawn straight. The teeth thus 




1/ ^ 1/ ^ / / 



set will answer for nearly all row spaces. If nine inch or 
twelve inch row spaces are wanted, it marks them out as it 
is made; if eighteen inch or twenty-four inch spaces are 
needed, we have only to skip every other line marked. In 
using it, stretch a garden line tightly the length wanted, 
and set the outer tooth against it and draw the marker 
steadily and fii-mly to the end; on returning, set the end 
tooth in the outer row as a guide, and so on until the 
desired number of rows are marked off. 
A dibber, for transplanting small plants, is readily made 




16 IMPLEMENTS AND HO W TO USE THEM. 

by taking a piece of crooked hard wood about ten or twelve 
inches in length, and sharpening it to a blunt point. In 
using it, after pushing it into the ground perpendicularly 
to make the hole for the plant, the plant should be held in 
the hole and the dibber again inserted about two inches 
from the plant in an angular direction and then drawn in 
at the top towards the plant; this presses the soil against 
the roots and insures it being lirmly set in the soil, for if 
not so set it wiU be likely to wilt and die. It is possible, 
and is often done by careless garden 
.. mj laborers, to press the soil against the 

coUar of the plant and leave the roots 
§'^^ hanging in an open space below, and if 
^ such careless men press the soil down 
^^ with their feet, they do it so heavily as to 
^^' Y • compress the soil, if it is any way wet, 

"^^^]^-;,,5jsg^ to the consistency of an unbaked brick. 
In either case, as we have often experienced to our loss, 
both the plants and the labor are thrown away. 

The Sidney Seed Sower is a very 
useful implement for sowing seeds, 
especially in windy weather, as it dis- 
tributes the seeds of any size from 
peas to cabbage seed with gi-cat reg- 
ularity, either broadcast or in drills. 

To these may be added a wheel- 
barrow, a water pot, a garden reel 
and line, a garden trowel, and an 
eight or ten inch coarse, flat file. We find the latter an 
essential tool to sharpen hoes and spades, for if they are 
not kept well sharpened they require a much Inrger 
amount of labor in using them. An oil cask is also useful 
for mixing hquid manures in. 




PBEPABATION OF THE SOIL FOB A GABDEN. 17 

Where the garden can be made large enough to bo 
worked by the plow, the oixlinaiy farm implements, such as 
a small plow, a cultivator and a harrow, are all that are 
necessary. They need no description or instructions as to 
their use, any farm laborer being able to use them. 



PREPAEATI02T OF THE SOIL FOR A GAEBEN. 

If the site selected for the garden is a piece of grass land, 
it should, some time between the first of September and the 
end of November, be plowed, and if manure can be had, it 
should be spread on the laud previous to commencing to 
jjIow. The x^lowing should be shallow, cutting the sod in 
thin slices and turning it o\-er flat, and then harrowing it 
either with the back of the harrow or with one having very 
blunt teeth, so as to fill up the hollows between the fur- 
rows, and to reduce it to as level a state as possible with- 
out pulling the sod out of its overturned position. Early 
in the spring it should be cros'sed-plowed and subsoiled, 
by cither usmg a subsoil plow or running an ordinary plow 
through the open furrow made by the fh-st plow. Tbis 
renders the soil friable to a greater depth than it otherwise 
would be. But care must be had not to bring the subsoil 
to the surface, as it is always inferior to the surface soil, 
and generally takes a great length of time, and a large 
amount of cultivation and manuring, to make it fertile. All 
that is required is to break it up and get it into such a 
state as that tap-rooted plants can easily penetrate it. 

If, instead of this second plo\\1ng, it is worked by hand, 
then a trench eighteen inches wide and one spade deep 
should be taken out and laid to one side; the subsoil should 
then be spaded with a spading fork. A layer of manure 
may then be laid upon this broken -up subsoil, and the top 



18 DRAINAGE. 

soil from the adjoining eighteen inches in width thrown 
over it; the subsoil under it then brolieu up and mauiu-ed, 
the top soil from the third eighteen inches thrown upcm it, 
and so on seriatim, trench after trench, until the plot is 
finished, returning the top soil taken from the fu'st trench 
to the last one. This may appear to involve a large amount 
of labor and a great deal of expense, but it will be found 
to well repay both in the excellent crops produced. 

After the land has been thus prepared, either by plowing 
or by hand labor, it should be planted with potatoes, corn 
or late cabbages the first season, as it can scarcely be 
brought into sutficiently fine tilth for ordinary vegetables 
the first year. 

If the subsoil should be heavy and retain water, it ^^ ill 
be necessary to under-drain it, the modes of doing which 
we will now explain. 

DEAmAGE. 

Drainage is necessary whenever the subsoil is of such a 
character as to hold water. It is not only low-laying land 
that requires it, for often land laying on the lower dech\ ity 
of a hill-side will need it, because the water draining from 
the upper part of the hill, wih, when the subsoil does not 
admit of its passing off freely, ooze out on the surface soil 
below, and make it cold and wet. This coldness of the 
soil is produced by the evaporation of the water through 
the action of the sun's rays or the action of the wind. 
This has been the subject of umnerous expi-riments, the 
results of which have .shown that the evaporation of one 
pound of water contained in one hundred pounds of earth, 
already containing its proper cpiantity of moisture, lowered 
its temperature ten degrees, and that the cUfference in 
temperature of the same land, drained and undrauied, 



D Fx AIN AG E. 19 

varied from six to ten degreeS; equivalent to an eleva- 
tion of from 1900 to 2500 feet. A rainfall of two inclies 
on an acre of land would weigh two hundred tons, and 
require over twenty tons of coal to evaporate it; at least 
one-third of this amount of heat would be abstracted 
from the soil, the balance being furnished from the atmos- 
phere. In a wet time an acre of some soils will contain 
one thousand spare hogsheads of water, which the sooner 
it is got rid of the better for the soil and the crops growing 
in it. Such an amount of surplus water in the soil, if 
taken from it by evaporation alone, would take over a 
month, as the rate of evaporation per acre on a mid- 
summer's day is about twenty-five hogsheads. So that the 
necessity of ai'tificial under-drainage is very apparent on 
soils where the substratum does not aflbrd a natural 
outlet. 

The advantages of under-draining are that it makes the 
soil warmer by decreasing the evaporation, and so makes 
it earher; it prevents injuries from drought because a 
larger amount of moisture is contained in the soil, owing 
to the greater depth to which it is absorbed; it causes the 
manure in the soil to decompose more rapidly, for manure 
decomposes very slowly when saturated with water, and 
the water draining through the soil takes down with it the 
various gases it has absorbed from the atmosphere, all of 
which are elements of plant food. 

It often requires much study and consideration to lay 
out a plan of drainage, as this has to be decided according 
to circumstances, which are seldom exactly alike in any 
two localities ; the relative position of the site in regard to 
higher and lower levels of the land adjoining, the undula- 
tions of the land composing the site, the means of getting 
rid of the drainage water, and the character of the subsoil 
all bein;r elements which must enter into the calculation. 



20 



DBA IX A G E. 



When the site is on the side or foot of a hill, it is gener- 
ally necessary to cut off the water that drains from the 
higher level, by constructing drains across the hill and 
connecting these with drains at right angles running 
down through the garden site. The accompanying dia- 
gram more fully explains this. 




The two upper sloping lines represent two drains on 
the higher level which intercept the water draining from 
the hill, and the parallel lines running down the descent 
through the garden, indicate drains either discharging into 
a pond or brook, or CDunecting with a main drain which 
conveys the water to some proper outlet of discharge. If 
the land is on a ridge the lateial drains should be right up 



and down the slope of the land, and connect with main 
drains in the depression; as m the above diagram. 



DBA IN A Cr E. 21 

Open ditch drains are not to be recommended, as they 
only conduct the water away, and scarcely, if at all, produce 
the eOect of under-drainage, and, besides, are in the way of 
plowing or similar operations, readily fiU up, and their sides 
become a regular garden of weeds. Where smaU stones 
arc plenty, trenches dug out to the requisite depth, and 
filled in a foot deep with stones, overlaid with sod, the turf 
side down, wiU answer a useful purpose. But no sort of 
drain is equal to, and in the end is so economical as H inch 
round draining tiles, with collars for the laterals, connect- 
ing with 2i inch tiles for the mains. These tiles are laid 



jointed together, the water percolating through the joints 
and passing off through the tiles. The proper depth to lay 
them is three feet, if the drains are twenty feet apart, and 
four feet deep, if the drains are forty feet apart, with a faU 
of six iuches to the hundred feet, although less will do ; but 
then they will require very great care in the laying of them. 
The drains should run parallel with each other if possible, 
and down the deepest descent of the land. In laying them, 
care must be had to have the bottom of the trench as truly 
level and firm as possible, in order to prevent sagging or 
undulations, as, if laid unevenly, the silt wiU settle in the 
lower portions and choke the drain. 

It is not so much the distance apart of the drains, as 
their depth, wbich affects their efficiency— hence, draiuings 
laid four feet deep and forty feet apart will be as effica- 
cious as those laid three feet deep and twenty feet apart. 
The character of the subsoil must deteiTuine this. In 
heavy, stiff soils, they should be placed twenty feet apart 



22 M AX U R E S. 

and three feet deep, as the trenches will cost less to exca- 
vate, and the hard subsoil might prevent the free passage 
of the water into the drains. 



MANTJEES. 

It is useless to expect success in gardening, unless there 
is a plentiful supply of manure hberally applied to the soil. 
It is this w hieh induces a rapid growth and produces that 
succulence and crispness so desirable in vegetables. In a 
large majority of cases it is dithcult to obtain, unless in the 
neighborhood of towns and cities, and especially on farms, 
for farmers generally need all they get from their stables 
for their farm crops, and begrudge what is necessary for 
the garden. Hence it is of great importance to husband 
every substance that has fertilizing powers, and so prepare 
it that it will produce its greatest eflects. 

Of aU materials contahiing fertilizing powers, none is 
equal to the excrements of animals, for they contain all 
the elements of plant life, but not always in the proper 
proportions, therefore they need to be combined and pre- 
pared for the special uses to which they are to be applied. 
In the preparation of tliein it is necessary to biing them 
into a less concentrated and more comminuted form than 
they nrc naturally, and at the same time preserve the 
gases they contain ; these gases being the principal ele- 
ments in plant food. 

Commiaution of the mass is brought about by fermenta- 
tion, and this is only another term for combustion or burn- 
ing. This we see in horse manure that has been piled up 
and allowed to become overheated; on opening such a pile 
of manure, we sec in it white masses or streaks which are 
only the ashes of the manure, the rest of the material 



AI A X UB E S. 23 

having been volatilized or dissipated into the atmosphere 
in the form of various gases, these composing the major 
part of the plant food in it. It is the same process that 
takes place in the combustion of coal or wood, only in a 
less aud slower degree, the product, heat, being the same. 

The gases, either by themselves or in combination, are 
fetid, and are evolved as soon as the excrements are 
voided. When, therefore, manure gives out offensive 
odors, we may be sure that its gaseous parts are escaping, 
and that it is losing its fertilizing powers. To prevent this, 
or to recover them as they are given off, is to economize 
and add to our stock of fertilizing materials. A similar 
loss ensues from the evaporation of the liquid parts of the 
manure, for the water it contains in evaporating carries 
with it large quantities of these gases, which it absorbs as 
they are evolved, and retains even when it is in the form of 
vapor. Leaching also produces the same effect — hence the 
benefits arising from the use of liquid manure. 

Manures should therefore not be exposed to the action of 
the weather, for then they lose from one-half to two-thirds 
of their strength. They should be kept dry, and mixed 
with such materials as will absorb the gases thrown off in 
the process of fermentation. To this end it is true economy 
to provide a good-sized open shed, in which the manure 
should be kept and prepared for use. 

The best absorbents of the gases arising from the decom- 
position of the manure, are dry earth, peat, muck, charcoal 
dust, leaf mould, spent bark and sawdust. Of these dry 
earth is always to be obtained in summer time, when it can 
be laid away under cover for winter use. Peat and muck are 
generally to be had on farms of any extent. They should 
never be used when fresh dug, but should be thrown up in 
ridges to be exposed to the action of the air and fi'ost to 



24 M A X C 1! £ S . 

pulverize them. They should then be composted with a 
aiixture m.ade of lime and salt, as directed in the next para- 
graph, using four bushels of the mixture to one cord of the 
peat or muck ; this should be done under cover, so as to 
keep off rain, which would cause the mixtm-e to leach out 
and so weaken its strength. It should be allowed to lay for 
a month or six weeks, when it may be used in mixing with 
the manure, the quantity to be used depending upon the 
character and ciuality of the manure j enough must be uiicd 
to pieveut the escape of any offensive odors, which, as we 
have already stated, indicates the escape of the fertilizing 
gases ; but as a general rule, one-third of green or fresh 
manure to two-thirds of the peat or muck will be a proper 
proportion. 

To make the dissolving mixture referred to above, take 
tiircc bushels of lime, as freshly burned as possible, and 
tiake it with water in which one bushel of salt has been 
dissolved, using only just enough of water to dissolve the 
salt. Alix it well and keep it imdcr cover, and let it be ten 
or fifteen days old before using. Lime alone will decom- 
pose peat or muck, but it is far less powerful than when 
combined with salt as above. It should aJivai/s be applied 
in a dry and fresh state, not air or water slaked. 

Unleached wood ashes, applied at the rate of twenty- 
five bushels to a cord of muck, will also decompose it. The 
sparlings or refuse of potash warehouses, applied at the 
rate of from twenty to one hundred poimds to a cord, will 
also have a like eflect. 

When dry earth is used as an absorbent, it should be 
mixed about half and half with the manure, moistening it 
V7ith a weak solution of sulphuric acid— oil of vitriol— about 
.,no pound of acid to forty-five or fifty gallons of water. 
This takes up the volatile ammonia which arises from the 



M AX U E E S. 25 

manure, and converts it into sulphate of ammonia, which 
is soluble but not volatile, yet is one of the most powerful 
fertilizers. Or gypsum — plaster of Paris — as prepared for 
agricultural purposes, may be added to the dry earth to 
increase its absorbing powers, and to fix the ammoniacal 
vapors. A hundred pounds to a cord of dry earth will be 
sufQcient. 

Where horses, cows and pigs are kept, it is not neces- 
sary to keep their manure separate, but it is best to throw 
it into one common pile and treat it as we have suggested. 
The urine of the animals is of very great value, and every 
care should be taken to save it, by using saw-dust, dry 
earth or other absorbents in the stalls. All the soap-suds, 
chamber-lye and kitchen slops should bo thrown on the 
compost heap, as they largely aid in making up its efiect- 
iveness. Poultry manure is sometimes needed for special 
crops, it should therefore bo Icept by itself, mixing it liber- 
ally with dry earth or gypsum, or these may be used with 
great advantage by frequently sprinkling them on the floor 
of the poultry house. 

Night soil is the most powerful of all manures, and 
arrangements should always be made to preserve it l;y the 
use of dry absorbents, such as dry earth, dry muck or char- 
coal dust. A liberal use of these will destroy its offenf ive- 
ness, and enable it to be used as readily as any other 
manure. The earth-closets, now conning so generally into 
use, soon save their cost in rendering this manure available. 
When used, it should be veiw lai'gely diluted with on 
absorbent, as otherwise it will kiU the plants to which it is 
appUed. 

Lime acts chiefly as a decomposing agent, as it dissolves 
the silica and other constituents of the soil and the vege- 
table matter in it, and so renders them fit for plant food. 



26 MANlllEti. 

Shell lime is tlie puiest and ber^t, but rll limes should be 
used freshly burnt, as when air-olaked they are almost 
inert. When used alone it should always be apphed as a 
top dres&ing, and should never be mixed alone AYith other 
manures containing ammonia, as it liberates the ammonia, 
for which reason it should always be accompanied with 
absorbents when composted with manure. 

Soot is an excellent manure for many vegetables, such 
as cabbages, melons, onions, etc., as it contains sulphur 
and also destroys insects. 

Sale is useful as a manure for some vegetables, such as 
asparagus and sea-kale. It is best apphed mixed with 
the compost used in manuring them, at the rate of a 
bushel of salt to a cord of compost; if more than this 
quantity is used, it will 1)0 apt to pickle the manm^e and 
so prevent its decomposition. 

Bones are a most excellent manure, but must be dis- 
solved or be finely groimd before being used. Where few 
bones accrue, as in an ordinary family, and unleached 
ashes can be had, bones can be dissolved in the following 
way: Take a large cask, set it in a cool, shady plaee, and 
in it place a layer of bones, four or five inches deep, and on 
these place a layer of the same depth of the unleached 
ashes, wetting them with as much water as they will take 
up without leaching through, and so continue a layer of 
hones and a layer of ashes alternately. In ten or twelve 
months they will be dissolved, except, perhaps, a few near 
the top, which may form the bottom layer for the next year. 
The hones and ashes should be shoveled out, some more 
dry ashes added and well mixed together, and the compost 
is ready to use. A more rapid mode of dissolving them, is 
to place them iu a tub, and moisten them with a solution 
of one-third their weight of sulphuric acid in five or six 



M A X U n E S. Tt 

times its weight of water. The acid thus diluted should 
only be sprinkled on them a little at a time, until the hones 
become a soft, pasty mass, which can be mixed with dry 
peat or earth, and then used as a manure. 

lione-dust or finely ground bone is sold commercially by 
persons who have mills made i)uri)osely for the pm-pose of 
crushing and grinding them. The crushed bones are 
generally about half an inch long, mixed with the powder 
or dust of the bones resulting from crushing them. The 
bone-dust or meal is the bones reduced to a powder resem- 
bling Indian meal. This latter is best adapted for gar- 
dening purposes, as it produces more immediate effects 
upon the crops. Crushed bones and bone-dust will fer- 
ment if thrown into a heap and moistened ; hence, in order 
to the more evenly distribute them on the land, and to 
make them produce a more immediate or quicker effect, 
they may bo composted with moist eaith for two or three 
weeks before using. When used for cabbage, cauliflowers, 
turnips and plants of the same family, some cultivators 
add sulphur to the bone-dust in the proportion of seven 
pounds of flour of sulphiu- to one hundred pounds of bone- 
dust, previous to fermenting it. The mass will give ofi' 
strong fumes of sulphur, and when applied to the soil keeps 
off the attacks of the turnip-fly. We also think that the 
sulphur acts as a special manure to plants of the kind 
indicated, as they all contain sulphur in their composition, 
as is evidenced in the sulphureted -hydrogen gas which 
they throw ofi" when in a state of decay, or in their eflect 
of tarnishing silver when brought in contact with them. 

Horn shavings are similar in their character and action 
to bones ; they should be mixed with five or six times 
their bulk of earth, and allowed to ferment five or six weeks 
before using. They make a most excellent manure for 



28 MA S U R E S. 

potatoes and coi-n. Tanner's waste should be treated in 
the same way. Or either may l^e rotted by composting 
them with manure, in the proportion of one part of shav- 
ings or waste to fifteen parts of manm'e. 

Super-phosphate is a commercial manure, made by add- 
ing sulphuric acid to burnt bones as used in the sugar 
refineries, although it can be made from fresh bones. It is 
somewhat uncertain in its efiects in some soils, as it will 
sometimes be iuert the first season after being applied, 
and only act the second year. Some manufacturers mi^: 
with it the blood and animal waste of the slaughter-houses. 
This ensures its immediate action and adds greatly to its 
value. 

Fish-guano is the dried refuse of the fish-oil manufac- 
turers, finely groimd. It is a powerful fertilizer, and is 
also best used when composted with earth. 

Guano is well known as a powerful fertilizer. Its great 
value consists in the amount of ammonia it contains. It 
should alvv'ays be used compostc<l with earth, to which 
gypsum or a weak solution of sul[)huric acid has been 
added, in order to change the ammonia from a volatile 
state to a fixed and soluble one. It is immediate in its 
elieets. Never use ashes or any alkali with guano. 

PoudretteJs the desiccated night soil from the cities. In 
preparing it charred peat is generally used as an absorb- 
ent. It is an excellent manure, producing immediate 
eiiccts, and dix^s not need composting. Unfortunately it is 
not always of certain value, as the night soil from the 
cities is often mixed with sand, coal ashes and similar 
refuse. 

Hops, as the refuse of the breweries, when they can be 
obtained, are a very powerful manure, by some considered 
to be even more valuable than horse manure. They should 



MAXUEES. 29 

be rotted down very slowly, for if allowed to ferment 
strongly tbey lose a large portion of their value. It is best, 
perhaps, to compost tliem with stable manure. 

Street sweepings are very uncertain in their strength, 
and we place hut little value upon them as a fertilizer, the 
manure being in very uncertain proportions to the sand 
and earth swept up with it. It besides has generally its 
strength dried out or washed out before being swept up. 
When dried it makes a good absorbent for the compost 
heap. 

Gypsum, or plaster, is not of much value to garden 
crops, except as an ingredient in the compost heap, where 
its facility of absorbing ammonia renders it of great value. 

Sulphur has lately been recommended as a manure for 
aU plants of the cabbage family, for which we have no 
doubt it may prove of value. It has been applied in the 
form of flour of sulphur, at the rate of six to eight pounds 
per acre. Sulphuric acid is sometimes used on limestone 
soils at the rate of thirty to forty pounds, diluted with two 
hundred times its weight of water, or two gallons to three 
or four hundred gallons of water. 

Spent tan-bark and sawdust will make good manure, 
when treated with the lime and salt mixture already 
described. It neutrahzes any injurious acids that may be 
in them. But it is better to use such materials as these, 
sea-weed and similar matters, as bedding for the animals, 
as they largely absorb the urine from them. 

In applying manure to the soil, never apply more than 
may be judged sufficient for the present crop, as it is poor 
economy to bury your capital in the soil. This is especially 
the case in hght sandy soils. Manures should also be 
alternated — that is to say, the same sort of manure should 
not be continuously applied to the same piece of land, but 



30 MANURES. 

some other kind occasionally used, in order to furnisli the 
soil with all the elements of plant growth. 

Liquid manures are also of sernce to many crops, but 
should always be i;scd freely diluted. 

All manures for garden purposes should be immediately 
plowed or spaded in after they are applied. 

The quantities of each kind to be applied to nn acre arc 
given below. They vary much in their i-ange, as the 
present condition of the soil as to feitility must be tahen 
into consideration, and this must be left to the judgment 
of the cultivator. 

Barn-yard manure; five to twenty tons, or thirty to 
forty calcic yards. 

Bone-dust ; sixteen to twenty bushels, or seven hundred 
to twelve hundred pounds. 

Fresh fish ; twenty-five to forty bushels. 

Fish guano; four to six hundred pounds. 

Guano ; three to eight hundred pounds. 

Gypsum; five to six hundred i)Ounds. 

Horn shavings ; twenty-five to forty bushels. 

Hops ; thirty to fo)'ty tons. 

Lime ; flfty to one hundred and fifty bushels. 

Night-soil; twenty bushels. 

Poudrette ; twenty-tive to thirty-five bushels. 

Salt ; two to sis bushels. 

Soot ; twenty to fifty bushels. 

Sulphur ; six to eight poimds. 

Sulphuric acid ; thirty to forty pounds. 

Super-phosyjhate; five hundred to a thousand pounds. 

Tanner's refuse ; five to eight hundred pounds. 

Wood ashes ; twenty to forty bushels. 

We have devoted a large space to this subject, but its 
importance requires it. If there is anything in which 



EOT AT ION OF C E O F S, 31 

amateur cultivators are lackinpf, it is in having a liberal 
su]3ply of manure, the very corner-stone of all gardening 
operations. It is therefore of the iirst importance to know 
how to make the most of it. 



EOTATION OF CEOPS. 

The necessity of the rotation of crops was long ago 
recognized, and was supposed to arise from the plants 
giving out escrementitious matters from their roots into 
the soil, and so poisoning it. But it is now found that 
])lants give out but little of such matters, and that the 
necessity of rotation principally arises from the plants of 
any particular class exhausting the soil of those substances 
which are necessary for their own particular nourishment, 
no two classes of plants requiring the same combination of 
substances for their particular support. Mr. Bridgeman, 
in his " Young Gardener's Assistant," has so tersely given 
instructions on this point, that we here subjoin them. 

Fall spinach is an excellent preparative crop for beets, 
carrots, radishes, salsify, and all other tap as well as 
tuberous-rooted vegetables. 

Celery or potatoes constitute a suitable preparation for 
cabbage, cauhflower, and all other plants of the Brassica 
family; as also for artichokes, asparagus, lettuce and 
onions, provided the ground be well situated for them. 

Lauds that have long lain in pasture ai^e, for the first 
three or four years after being tilled, superior for cabbage, 
turnips and potatoes, and afterward for cuUnary vegeta- 
bles generally. 

Fibrous-rooted plants should be alternated with tap or 
tuberous-rooted ones, and vice versa. 

Plants which produce luxuriant tops, so as to shade the 



32 EOTATIOX OF CROPS. 

ground, should be succeeded by such as yield small tops, 
or narrow leaves. 

Plants which during their growth requu'e the operation 
of stirring the earth should precede such as do not admit 
of such culture. 

Gromid. which has been occupied by artichokes, aspara- 
gus, rhubarb, sea-kale, or such other crops as remain loug 
on a given spot, should be subjected to a regular rotation 
of crops, for as loug a time at least as it remained under 
such permanent crops. These should be renewed on the 
same principle as often as they fail to produce luxuriantly. 
No two crops should be allowed to ripen their seetls in 
succession, in the same soil. 

Manure should be applied to the most profitable and 
exhausting crops. Root and seed crops arc always more 
exhausting than leaf crops. 

The following ten years' rotation is from an Enghsh 
work, and we give it to our readers as an example of how a 
piece of ground should be managed: 

1 — peas and beans ; 2 — broccoli, cabbage and winter 
greens; 3 — carrots, parsnips, beets, scorzonera, salsify, 
skiri'et, parsley ; 4 — onions, cauliflower, turuips ; 5 — spin- 
ach, spring onions, and other secondary crops ; G — savoy, 
broccoh, winter greens, red cabbage, leeks; 7 — potatoes; 
8 — turnips, cabbage, broccoli; 9— celery, cardoons; 10 — 
French beans, etc., as at first. 

The secondary crops mentioned above are those of shoit 
duration, such as lettuces, radishes, salads, annual herbs, 
etc. These can be frequently planted between the rows 
of the main crops, and taken off before they interfere with 
each other. 



TRANSPLANTING. 33 



TRANSPLANTING. 



This is an operation requiring mucli care and attention, 
for if tliese are not given, success is very doubtful. Many 
vegetables are the better for being transplanted from a 
seed-bed, instead of being sown where they are to remain. 
Of this class are all the Brassica or cabbage family, lettuce, 
endive, celery, cardoons, tomatoes, onions and leeks. Peas 
and beans are improved in precocity by it. Ruta-bagas, 
radishes, parsnips, beet, scorzonera, salsify and skirret can 
be transplanted, and so vacancies in the rows can be filled 
up, but the operation does not effect any particular im- 
provement. Turnips, carrots, spinach, cress and mustard 
cannot be transplanted with any success. 

In transplanting, the first requisite is to see that the 
plants are properly dug up, in such a way as to secure all 
the roots. We do not approve of shortening the roots in 
the process, and think that, unless in very exceptionable 
cases, the tops should not be shortened either. If the soil 
of the seed-bed, at the time of transplanting, is not quito 
moist, it should receive a good soaking of water two or 
three hours before the plants are to be taken up. These 
should be carefidly hfted with a spado or garden trowe-1, 
and not drawn or iiulled up. 

Great care must bo used in planting them, to see that 
they are firmly set in the ground, by treading the soil firmly 
with the foot on each side of the plant. When planted 
with a dibble, after the hole is made and the plant set in 
it, re-enter the dibble at an angle, two or three inches from 
the plant, and then draw the head of the dibble sideways 
towards the plant, as shown in the cut on page 16. This 
presses the soil close up to the roots and sets the plant 
firmly. 



34 



TBA XS FLA N TING. 



The best time to transplant is on a cloudy day, just be- 
fore a rain storm; but if it lias to be done in bright 
weather, it should be done after the heat of the day is 
over. The plants, as removed from the seed-bed, should 
be placed in a pan of watez-, ^ etthjg their tops well. The 
moisture adhering to the roots when planted sufQciently 
moistens the soil to keep the plants from wilting, in 
sandy, ligiit soils, transplanting may be done immediately 
after a rain storm, but in heavy soils it shoidd be defened 
until the saturaciou of the soil has subsided. If dry 
weather ensues immediately after planting, the young 
plants will require watering and perhai)s shading, as wilt- 
ing sets them back greatly. 

The following table shows the number of plants that can 
be set on an acre of land at the various distances indicated. 



Number of Plants required roi; ax acre of grouj^d, 

AT the distances IXDICATEJJ. 



1 


ft. by 1 


u 


" by U 


2 


" by 1 


'2 


" by 2 


'M 


" by 2i 


3 


" by 1 


3 


" by 2 


:i 


" br 3 


3i 


" by 3i 


4 


" byl 


4 


" by 2 


4 


" by 3 


4 


" by 4 



...43, '.GO 
...19.351] 
.. .21,7-0 

. ..lO.H.IJ 

. . . (;,y(;:J 
... 7.2(;!] 

. . . 4,840 

... 3,.^<r..5 



, 10,890 
. 5,44.3 
. 3,<>;;!0 
. 2,72:3 



4^ ft. l»y 4^ ft 2,151 



(> 



i>y 

by 

ijy 

i»y 
i^y 
^y 
V'y 
^y 
by 

by 
bV 



.8,712 
.4,356 
.2,904 
.2,178 
.1,742 
.1,440 
.1.210 
. 1^031 
. 888 
. 680] 
. 537' 
. 435 



If any intermediate distances are used, the number of 
plants required can be ascertained by dividing 43,5G0, the 
number of square feet in an acre, by the number of square 
feet in the different distances. Thus, 2 feet by 2i- feet=;5, 
and that divided into 43,560, gives 8,712, the number of 
plants required at the dis*:ance5 named. 



/■ 



COLD FRAMES AND HOT-BEDS. 



COLD FEAMES AlfD HOT-BEDS. 



35 



A cold frame may be made of any size, from a one to a 
four sash frame. A sash is generally made six feet long, 
and three feet one inch wide. The stiles or side bars 
should each be two and a half inches wide ; the parting 
strips of the astragals should each be half an inch wide 
and six inches apart, to accommodate six by eight inch 
glass; the thickness of the wood being an inch and a iiall'. 




The box or frame should be two feet high at the back, 
and sixteen inches at the front, and should be made of 
inch and a half plank. When two or more sashes are used, 
brace-pieces six inches wide must be set across the frame, 
from back to front, and dovetailed into each, so as to 
carry the sashes and stiffen the frame. On these bi-aces a 
parting-strip must be nailed, in order to separate the 
sashes and cause them to run true. On each side or end 



36 COLD FRAMES AND HOT-BEDS. 

of the frame, a strip projecting above the ends the thick- 
ness of the sash must be nailed, to keep the sash in place. 

Such a frame is usually just set on the ground in a shel- 
tered situation, and banked up with manure, leaves, salt 
hay or earth to keep out the frost as much as possible. 

There are two ways of making a hot-bed. One is to 
excavate the ground to a depth of two to two and a half 
feet, and the area of the frame to be used. The other is 
to stack the manure above ground in a square pile two and 
a half feet high, and about eighteen mches wider each 
way than the area of the frame. The first is the safest 
and best method. 

The manure to be used should be fresh horse-dung, to 
which should be added, if they can be had, an equal bulk 
of leaves. These must be thoroughly mixed together and 
thrown into a conical heap, treading it down firmly as it is 
made up. In a few days fermentation will take place, and 
steam escape freely from the heap. It must now be turned 
over, well shaken out, and made up into a pile as before, 
and allowed to remain until a second fermentation takes 
place, which will be in three or four days. It should now 
be placed m the pit or piled up, as the case may be, heat- 
ing it down firmly with the back of the fork, and trodden 
down so as to make it of uniform consistence. The frames 
and sashes are then to be placed upon it and banked up 
with manure, leaves or other suitable material, and then 
kept close until fermentation again ensues. In two or 
three days a thermometer plunged into the mass will 
probably indicate 100 degrees; a httle air may now be 
given by pulling down the sashes an inch or two, and 
when the thermometer indicates 90 or 85 degrees, six or 
eight inches deep of soil should be placed over the manure. 
This soil should be composed of one-third well-rotted 



COLD FRAMES AND HOT-BEDS. 37 

manure and two-tbirds of good garden soil. lu a day or 
two more tlie bed will be ready for sowing seeds in. The 
preparation of the bed should be so timed as to have it 
ready for use by the first of March. 

In this bed, during the first week in March, may be sown 
seeds of cabbage, lettuce, peppers, egg plants and toma- 
toes, and any others that may be needed for early plant- 
ing. The seeds should bo sown in shallow drills six or 
eight inches apart, and covered with light soil, patting it 
down gently with a piece of board. When they require 
watering, it shoiUd be done with tepid water and given 
from a watering pot with a very fine rose. 

After the seeds are sown, the frame should be protected 
at night or in dull, cold weather by coverings of wooden 
or straw shutters, or straw mats, so as to keep it at as 
near an equable temperature as possible. This must not 
be neglected, especially the nightly covermg, until the first 
week in May. The bed must be licpt aired in the day-time 
by raising or lowering the sashes whenever the thermom- 
eter shows 75 degrees, but should not be allowed to go 
below 6S degrees. Great attention must be paid to this, 
for if kept too warm, the plants will be soft and drawn, or 
perhaps scorched, and if too cool, will become stunted by 
being checked in their growth. 

When the tomato, egg plant and pepper plants have 
grown to be two or three inches high, as many as are 
wanted should be transplanted, one each into three-inch 
pots, and set back into the frame, watering them as soon 
as potted, and shading them from the sun for three or four 
days. Cabbage and lettuce plants may be pricked out 
into a cold frame, and then watered and shaded as before. 
They should be kept as warm as possible in the cold frame, 
but be well aired in the middle of bright, sunny days, and 



38 COLD FT. AMES AND HOT-BEDS. 

will make nice, stocky plants for setting ont from the mid- 
dle of April to the flrst of ]\Iay. Those wintered over in a 
cold frame, however, make the best plants. Tomatoes, e.gg 
plants and peppers mitst he kept in the hot-hed frame 
until the middle of May, gradually increasing the airing to 
keep the plants stocky. 

When it is desired to raise sweet potato plants, the 
making of the hot-bed should be so timed as to have it 
ready for use by the middle of April. A compost of sand 
and leaf moidd must be made and laid on the hot-bed sis 
inches deep. The tubers are to be laid closely together on 
this, and a thickness of two inches of the compost laid 
evenly over them. Withhold watering them until they 
begin to grow. They will furnish shoots for planting out 
in five or six weeks after starting. 

The ground, where a cold frame is to be placed in the 
spring, should be, the previous autumn, covered up with 
manure, leaves or similar materials, to keep the ground 
from freezing. Before setting the frame over it, it should 
bo well spaded and made as fine as possible before setting 
out the plants, so that they may take root speedily after 
being transplanted into it. 

For covering the sashes, shutteis made of three-quarter 
inch boards should be made the size of the sashes. Or 
shutters may be made by making a frame of furring strips, 
set on edge, nailing lathes across it ten or twelve inches 
apart on the under side, lilMng it up with straw or salt hay, 
and then naihng a similar set of lathes on the upper side. 
When shutters made in either of these ways are used, strips 
of old carpet or canvas should be laid along the upper and 
lower ends of the sashes, of sufficient width to hang over 
the back and front of the frame, so as to cover the joint 
where the top and bottom rail of the sashes rest on the 



COLD Fi: A M K S A A' IJ H T-Ii E D s . 



39 



edges t)i the plauks composing the IVame, the object be- 
ing to prevent the cold air drawing in through the joints. 

Marliet gardeners generally use straw mats, made from 
rye straw, bulrushes or marsh sedge. These are best 







i|J'ifa-^=(U'i'4^i »'iii':i.Hyi!iiii'ilivi/ jii'Jdi:l 




made by making a frame, the inside of which will be the 
width of the sash and a foot longer than it. Bore five 
holes in the top and bottom rails, the outside ones to be 
three and a half inches from the sides of the frame, and the 
rest eight inches apart. This will give five warp strings 
and make the mat the width of the sash. These warp 
strings, which should be of tarred string or mailine, are 
to be fastened in the holes, and then the straw or sedge 
laid in small handfuls upon the lower strings; as each 
handfid is laid on, the upper string must be carried over it 
and a turn taken on the lower one, and so on until the mat 
is finished, by tying each pair of strings together at each 
end. The accompanying cut will further explain this. By 
making it a foot longer than the sash, sis inches of the 
mat hangs over back and front, and so saves the necessity 
of carpet or canvas. When finished, the mat should be 
about three inches thick. They are much warmer than 
any other covering. 



40 8EEDS AND SEED SOWING. 

Hot-beds and frames should always be protected by be- 
ing placed iu the angle of a close board fence, six feet liigh, 
leaving proper space to get round them. The fence should 
only bo on the northern and western sides, so as to keep 
off the cold winds. 

Where there is no convenience for making a hot-bed, 
early vegetable plants can be raised iu boxes covered with 
loose panes of glass, and placed in a sunny window in the 
kitchen or sitting-room. They will not come forward as 
fast as those in a hot-bed, so should bo started a couple 
of weeks sooner. 



SEEDS AND SEED SOWING. 

Too much care cannot be exercised in obtaining good 
seeds, for it is very provoking to spend money and labor 
upon a crop, and find that one-half or two-thirds of it is 
not true to name, or is of inferior quality. It makes all 
the difl'ereuce in tho world, whether we get ninety-nine 
good heads of cabbage out of a hundred planted, or only 
get ten out of a huudi-cd, and yet we have seen such cases. 
Seed that may cost a dollar an ounce would, iu such cases, 
bo vastly more economical than that which only cost 
twenty-five cents. Always, therefore, buy the best seeds, 
even at a higher price, from seedsmen of established repu- 
tation. 

With all the care used by seed growers and seedsmen to 
obtain only the best, yet sometimes disappointments will 
ensue, for as nearly all the vegetables we grow are mon- 
strosities, or abnormal developments of the plants, there 
is a continual effort in nature to revert to the original type 
from whence the variety originated, and these leaps back- 
ward are sometimes very sudden. The accusations brought 
against seedsmen, of selling seeds that do not or will not 



SEEDS AXD SEED SOWING. 41 

grow, are, nine cases out of ten, perfect nonsense, as the 
failure to make them gi'ow is due to the ignorance or care- 
lessness of the cultivator. There are few vegetable seeds 
that do not vegetate freely when they are more than a 
year old, and are just as good aud sometimes better than 
when fresh from the plant. 

Those that are only considered as retaining their vitality 
for one year, arc leeks, onions, parsnips and rhubarb. 

For two years: beans and peas of all kinds, peppers, 
carrot, egg plant, okra, salsify, scorzoucra, cress, nastur- 
tium, thyme, sago and herb seeds generally. 

For three years : artichoke, asparagus, endive, lettuce, 
fetticus, mustard, parsley, skuTet, spinach and radish. 

For four years: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, 
turnip and celery. 

For five years: beet, cucumber, melon, pumpkin, squash, 
tomato, chervil and sorrel. 

The great requisites iu raising plants from seeds, are a 
suitable soil, temperature, air and moisture. The soil 
should always bo well pulverized and brought into fine 
tilth, to enable the tender, germinating plants to penetrate 
it. To sow seeds in heavy, coarsely broken up land, and 
perhaps water-soaked at that, is only labor thrown away. 
The temperature of the soil is a matter of great importance, 
and requires much discrimination, as our vegetables come 
from various climates, some tropical and others extra- 
tropical ; so that a temperature that suits one would bo 
death to the other, or will materially delay its germina- 
tion. For instance, cresses will vegetate in twenty-four 
hours in a soil at 45 degrees. Lima beans will vegetate in 
seven days when the thermometer is at 88 degrees, but 
require twenty days if it is only at 62 degrees. Peas will 
vegetate in eleven days if the temperature is 74. degrees, 



42 ,'•' /: E D s J _v ; .' .s' E E I) ,'<owi y a . 

but will require niuelcen days if it is 57 degrees, and 
radishes will vary fro;u six to twelve days, according to 
the temperature, so that no time is gained by sowing too 
early in the season. When seeds are sown out-of-doors, 
particular attention should be given so to prepare the soil 
as that it may become sufUcieutly heated by the sun's rays 
before the seed is sown. Attention to this point will fre- 
quently make a dillerenco of eight to twelve days in the 
time of germination. 

In this latitude, the following seeds may be sown from 
the middle of March to the end of April in the open air, 
the mean of the thermometer in the shade being 45 degrees. 
Beets, carrots, cress, celery, cabbage, cauliflower, endive, 
kalo, kohl-rabi, lettuce, parsley, parsnip, onions, leeks, 
peas, radish, turnip and spinach; and the following from 
the middle of May to the middle of June, the mean of the 
thermoDieter being GO degrees : hma, pole and bush 
beans, sweet corn, cucumber, musk and water-melons, 
okra, pumpkin, squash, tomato and nasturtium. 

Moisture is a point that also requires much attention. 
If the soil is either too moist or too dry, the seeds will not 
vegetate. In the first case they will rot, and in the other 
case they will citlicr shrivel u]) or remain doi'mant. It is 
difficult to explain the proper medium — that must be left to 
experience and common sense; but as a suggestion, we 
would say that when a handful of the soil is tightly pressed 
together in the hand, and just adheres together without 
becoming pasty or sticky, it is in a pi'oper state. 

Seeds will not vegetate if too much exposed to the air, 
and yet they must not be wholly excluded from it, as the 
oxygen it contains is necessary to produce those chemical 
changes in the seed which result in germination. Seeds 
should therefore always he rolled after being sown, or the 



iiEUDS A XL SUED SOV/IXG. 43 

soil be pressed in clooO contact with tlicm, Ly laying a 
board over the drill, if the seeds are small, and walking on 
it, or if they are large, i^atting the soil down with the back 
of the spade, or pressing it down over them with the foot. 
This has also the effect of excluding the light, which pre- 
vents or retards their free germination. 

The depth at which they are sown has also much to do 
in making them germinate. This is greatly controlled by 
the character of the soil. In stiff, clayey soils they must 
not be sown nearly as deep as they maybe in a hght, friable 
loam, or in a sandy soil. 

The depth at which seeds should be sown is a matter 
for which there is no fixed rule. The old rule was, to cover 
them their own thickness with soil; but that is not sufficient 
for many seeds; cabbage seed or lettuce seed, for instance, 
should be sown three-eighths or half an inch deep, and 
peas from one to two inches. ExiJerience and observation 
will soon instruct any one in this matter. 

In sowing seeds in a hot-bed, great care must be had to 
see that the beat of the bed is at the proper temi^erature. 
If the soil of the bed is too hot, the seeds will burn up. 
This is a common error on the part of ignorant or injudi- 
cious gardeners, who never fail in such cases to accuse the 
seedsman of selling them old seed, whilst the blame for the 
failure rests wholly with themselves. 

A certain amount of seed is necessary to produce a maxi- 
mum crop ; in order, therefore, to convey an approximate 
idea of the quantity sufficient to yield this result, and at 
tlie same time to lorevent a needless waste of seed, the fol- 
lowing Table is given, showing about the length of drill or 
the number of hills over which a given quantity of seed 
should be distributed, or the number of plants that the 
seed should be reasonably expected to produce. 



44 SEEDS AXD SEED SOWINO. 

Name of Plant. Amount aj' Seed. Average Yield. 

Artichoke 1 oz 600 plants. 

Asparagus 1 oz 1,000 " 

Beans, English 1 qt 60 ft. of chill. 

Pole Iqt laOhills. 

" Bush Iqt 100 ft. of driU. 

Beet 1 oz 60 " " 

Borecole 1 oz 3,000 plants. 

Broccuh luz 3,000 " 

Brussels Sprouts 1 oz 3,000 " 

Cabbage 1 oz 3,000 " 

Caxdoon 1 oz 600 " 

Carrot 1 oz 150 ft. of chill. 

Cauhflower 1 oz 3,000 plants. 

Celery 1 oz 4,000 " 

Celeriac 1 oz 4,000 " 

Chervil 1 oz 100 ft. of drill. 

Chiccory 1 oz 3,000 plants. 

Colewort 1 oz 3,000 " 

Com 1 cjt 200 hills. 

Cress 1 oz 50 ft. of drill. 

Cucumber. , 1 oz GO hiEs. 

Dandehon ] oz 4,C00 plants. 

Egg Plant 1 oz 2,000 " 

Endive 1 oz 3,000 " 

Fetticus 1 oz 100 ft. of drilL 

Garden Patience 1 oz 600 plants. 

Kohl-Eabi 1 oz 3,000 " 

Leek loz 1,500 " 

Lettuce 1 oz 3,000 " 

Martynia 1 oz 500 " 

Melons 1 oz GO hills. 

Mustard 1 oz 50 ft. cf drill. 

Is^asturtium 1 oz 100 plants. 

E"ew Zealand Spinach 1 oz 50 '' 

Okra 1 oz 40 ft. of drill. 

Onion loz 100" " ' 

Onion Sets Iqt 20 " " 

Parsley 1 oz IfO " " 



PROTECTIXG VEGETABLES. 45 

Name of Plant. Amount of Seed. Average YMd. 

Parsnip 1 oz SOU ft. ofdrilL 

Peas 1 qt luO " " 

Peppers 1 oz 2,0U0 plants. 

Potatoes 10 bush, sets . . 1 acre. 

Pumpkin 1 oz 40 hills. 

Eadisb 1 oz 100 ft. of drill. 

Rhubarb 1 oz GOO plants. 

Euta-Baga 1 oz 200 ft. of drill. 

Salsify 1 oz 70 " 

Scolymus 1 oz 70 " 

Scorzonera 1 oz 70 '•' 

Sea-Kale 1 oz 30 " 

Shallot 1 qt 20 " 

Sorrel 1 oz COO plants. 

Spinach 1 oz ICO ft. of drill. 

Squash, Bush 1 oz 50 hills. 

" Running 1 oz . . XV, " 

Sweet Potato i pk 12 bushels. 

S-sTiss Chard 1 oz 50 ft. of drill. 

Tomato 1 oz 2,000 plants. 

Water-Melon 1 oz 30 hills. 



PROTECTING VEGETABLES. 

When cauliflowers, tomatoes and other tender vegetables 
are set out early m the season, it is frequently necessary 
to protect them not only from cold nights, but from chilly, 
windy days, for we are seldom certain of really settled, 
warm weather, until the last week of May or beginning of 
June; and although there may not be any frost, yet the 
chill the plants get, causes them to become stunted and re- 
tards their growth. 

If it is only necessary to protect them when first set out, 
to prevent them wilting or to guard them against frost at 
night, an inverted flower-pot will answer every purpose; 
taking it off dm'ing the day when the plants have recovered 
from being transplanted, and replacing it at night, or keep- 



46 



PROTECTING VEGETABLES. 



iog it over tlicm if the day sliould be chilly or windy. 
"Wheu it is Decessary not only to protect them hut to in- 
crease the temperature, they may he protected by covering 
them with small boxes eight or tea inches square, made 
higher at the back than the front, like a small cold frame; 
and a pane of 6x8 or 10x1:^ glass let in the top, according 
to the size of the frame. The frame may be made of thin 
boards, and need not be over a foot high at the back. 

The following is a very simple and excellent plan for 
protecting freshly set out melons, cucumbers, squashes and 
similar plants from cool winds, nnd, when growing, from 
the attacks of bugs. The forkfid of manure usually ap- 
plied to each hill is first dug into the soil. A seven-inch 
flower-pot is then placed upon the hill, and the earth drawn 
round it with a hoe and firmly trodden with the foot. The 
flower-pot is then withdrawn, and the seeds arc sown or the 
plant set out in the bottom of the cavity thus made. Our 




engraving fully explains how this is done. The vine, when 
sufficiently grown, runs down the sides of the mound, whilst 
the stem and roots are kept cooler and more moist than 
when surrounded with boxes of wood or similar contri- 
vance^. Plants thus set out can also be readily pi'otected 
from late frosts or cold rains or winds, by simply placing a 
pane of 8x10 glass or a piece of board of similar size over 
the hole, at night or during the prevalence of the injurious 
weather. 



PRESERVATION OF VEGETABLES. 47 

PPvESEEVATION OF VEGETABLES. 

In our directions for the cultivation of vegetables, we 
have given instructions for their preservation whenever any 
special mode of doing so was deemed necessary ; we shall 
therefore here only give general directions for so doing. 

All root crops, such as beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips, 
potatoes, horseradish, etc., are better preserved in out- 
door pits than in cellars, as they keep more plump and 
succulent, aud have less tendency to become stringy than 
when kept in a cellar. Besides this it is more healthful 
thus to keep them than in a cellar, for unless care is taken 
to remove any that may decay, they are liable to produce 
disease among those living in the house. Only so many 
ought to be thus kept as will supply the family for three 
or four weeks. 

In a dry, sheltered situation, dig out a series of shallow 
pits a foot deep, and of such length aud width as may be 
necessary for the bulk of each vegetable to be preserved. 
Into each pit place the roots, they having been previously 
topped, and pile them up in a rounding manner. On theui 
lay three or four inches of straw or leaves, and over this 
place a layer of soil eighteen or twenty niches deep, beat- 
ing it down firmly with the back of the spade, and sloping 
it oft' nicely. Cover the southerly end of each pit with a 
thick layer of leaves, straw or litter, to keep the soil from 
fi'eezing, and to aflbrd ready access to them daring the 
hard winter weather. If there is any danger of water 
lodging in the pits, drains must be dug in such a manner 
as to readily carry it off. If old boards or fence nrlls can 
be had, a pent house roof, hkc a chicken coop, can be made 
over each pit, and the earth laid on it, and the straw or 
htter be omitted. The bc">t timo for doing this is towards 
the end of November or the first of December. 



48 SEED RAISING. " 

Cabbages are best preserved by pulling them up by the 
roots, and placing them head down on a level piece of dry 
ground, and then throwing six or seven inches of earth 
over them. 

A portion of the stalks will be exposed, but this Is of no 
importance; the spaces between them can be tilled up with 
leaves or litter, which will facilitate getting them out when 
wanted. 

Cauliflowers and broccoli that have not perfected their 
beads in the autumn, should be taken up and planted close 
together right up to the leaver, in a cold fi-ame, and pro- 
tected by sashes and coveiings. They will then perfect 
their flower-hen ds. Onions are best preserved by laying 
them on the floor of a hay-loft and covering them with 
about a foot or eighteen inches of hay or straw. They re- 
quire to be kept diy and cool. 



SEED RAISIXG. 



As a rule it is not best for an amateur gardener to raise 
seeds for his own use, as the business requires much skill 
and knowledge, and is best conducted by those who make 
a regular business of it. Even seedsmen rarely grow seeds 
for their own sales, but purchase them from growers, many 
of whom make specialties of different kinds, some only 
growing one particular sort of cabbage, spinach, lettuce, 
etc., and others only growing other varieties of the same 
vegetable. 

The reason for this is that the various varieties of any 
one vegetable are liable to mix if grown iu proximity to 
each otl.e ■; for instance, if any two varieties of cabbage, or 
of beets, or of lettuce, or of melons, ar3 grown within a 
quarter of a mile of each other, their pollen will be liable 



SEED RAISING. 49 

to be blown by tbo wind, or carried by bees or other insects 
from one plot to the other, and produce cross fertilization, 
which will result in the production of mongrels, none of 
which are likely to have any of the distinguishing charac- 
teristics of their parents. It is, therefore, best to buy what 
seeds are needed from seedsmen of well-estabhshed reputa- 
tion, whose knowledge of their business, and of the growers, 
generally enables them to be certain of their purity. Seeds- 
men, as a rule, always endeavor to get the best they can, 
.and often pay extraordinary prices for them, as their 
gardener customers are always ready to pay an extra 
price for the very best, for it is a matter of great import- 
ance to them, especially to market gardeners, to be sure to 
obtain a crop to pay for the great outlay for the manure 
and labor necessary in their cultivation. 

If any of our readers should, however, desire to grow 
seeds for their own use, they should observe the following 
rules: 

Never to grow for seed any two varieties of any given 
vegetable, for the reasons already given. 

In the case of vegetables desirable for their earliuess, as 
tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, etc., always to save the 
fruits first ripe, if they are perfect in other particulars. 

In the case of beets, carrots and other tap-rooted or 
tuberous-rooted vegetables, always select the best formed 
and the best colored roots, being careful to so dig them up 
as not to destroy or injm'e the tips of the roots, and always 
to leave an inch at least of the tops on the roots, for if cut 
down close to the crown, they will be injured for seed- 
growing purposes. The largest and best formed potatoes 
should always be saved for cutting into sets, as the small 
ones, which are too often saved for this purpose, are the 
last formed in the ground, and are not as well ripened as 



// 



50 INSH^CTS AND INSECTICIDES. 

tlio large ones, which are first formed and have had a 
longer season m which to perfect themselves. 

All the annual vegetables, such as beans, corn, cucum- 
bers, egg plants, peppers, tomatoes, rachshes, peas, melons, 
etc., produce their seeds the same season as that in which 
they are planted. 

The biennial vegetables, such as beets, carrots, celery, 
cabbage, onions, leeks, parsley, salsify, scorzonera, pars- 
nips, etc., produce their seeds the second year after they 
are planted, and are raised from roots or plants that have 
been wintered over. Set them out as early in the spring as 
the weather permits, setting them the same distance apart 
as is directed for growing them. 



INSECTS AHD IIJSEGTIGIDE3. 

If a garden is kept well cultivated by having the soil 
freq^uently stirred by the hoe, it will not be much troubled 
by insects, as many of them go into the ground in their 
pupa state to winter over. The continual digging for the 
various crops as they succeed each other also destroys 
them. Nevertheless, there are some which, under almost 
any circumstances, will annoy the cultivator. One of the 
most troublesome on newly turned up grass land is the 
white grub with a black head, th(! larva of the June bug, 
or cockchafer. This grub is very voracious, and eats off 
young cabbage plants and others almost as soon as they are 
planted. It is difficult to get rid of them, as they are under- 
ground. Their ravages are done at night, and the grub 
may be found early in tiie jnorning, by digging for them 
^\iLhIn two or three inches of the plant gnj.,\vc>l off. 

Moles are particularly destructive to the v? grubs, as they 
feed upon them. Hero we would say a vrord in favor of 



INSECTS AND INSECTICIDES. 51 

the mole, wlio is popularly but Ignorautly accused of eatiug 
the roots of vegetables. Ou the coutrary, he is an iusecti • 
vorous or carnivorous animal, and does not live ou vegeta- 
bles. He burrows through the ground seeking his prey, 
and is one of the best friends the gardener has. The ouly 
mischief he does is under-running a plant now and then 
when burrowing, but the chances are ten to one that he 
has caught and devoured the grub that was eating it off, 
and which, had he not done so, would have devoured a 
dozen more plants. 

The most general insects in a vegetable garden are the 
aphis, or plant louse, caterpillars of various kinds, some 
bugs, slugs, and plant fleas. 

The aphis are readily destroyed by dipping the shoots of 
the plants in a strong decoction or tea made from tobacco 
stems. The smooth-skinned caterpillars, particularly the 
species which infests the cabbage, may be destroyed by 
sprinkling salt upon them. Bugs or beetles are not always 
destructive, for some of the ground beetles live upon other 
insects ; those that feed upon plants are generally easily 
killed by sprinkling the plants with a solution of whale oil 
soap. Some of them, such as the squash bug, can be 
kept from the plants by enclosing them with old cheese 
boxes or similar arrangements. The insect cannot fly but 
an inch or two from the ground, and when the plant 
is thus defended cannot get at it. Fleas, such as the tur- 
nip fly or flea, can be kept in check by dusting the soil 
with lime, repeating it every day or two, until the plants 
are well up. For the Colorado bug, which of late years 
has been so destructive to the potato, nothing is better to 
destroy it than Paris green. This should be mixed with 
plenty of water, kept stuued, and spiinkled on the plants 
with a whisk broom or some similar article. 



52 INSECTS AND INSECTICIDES. 

Tobacco water, tobacco dust, soot, lime, belleboro pow- 
der, dry guano, flom- of sulpbur, whale oil soajj, and solu- 
tions of saltpetre or salt are all insecticides. Tbey must 
be cautiously used ; their strength being graduated when 
used iu solution, according to the plant, and the insects to 
be destroyed. This is best ascertained by actual experi- 
ment. 

Insectivorous birds, lady bugs and toads are great de- 
vourers of insects, and should always be encouraged in a 
garden. The birds not only devour the living insects, but 
also devour the insect eggs, of which they are very fond. 
Lady bugs live upon the plant lice, and toads live upon 
smaU winged insects, of which they catch large numbers. 



CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES. 53 

cultiyatio:n" of vegetables. 



The preceding images are devoted solely to the most 
practical and economical methods of preparing a garden 
for the reception and culture of vegetables, etc., with such 
general remarks on the tillage uf the soil, the rotation of 
crops, and other matters connected with the subject, as 
will ensure the most favorable results. 

The present portion of the v/ork will aflbrd thorough in- 
formation as to the most approved manner of sowing, 
planting and cultivating all the plants that find a place in 
a vegetable garden. 

Each will be treated separately, and the whole is ar- 
ranged in alphabetical order for handy reference. There 
Is also introduced, at the end of the book, a monthly 
Reminder, or general summary of the jjlanting and other 
work which is appropriate or necessary during each month. 



ARTICHOKE. 

Artichoke plants can be raised either from seeds, from 
suckers, or from offshoots of old plants. The seed should 
be sown toward the end of March or during April, in any 
light, moist earth, not liable to bake, nor yet very sandy. 
The seed drills should be about an inch deep and twelve 
inches apart. A bed wUl last three or four years, and one 
ounce of seed should produce about six hundred plants. 
The Green Globe is the best (because the hardiest) variety 
for our climate. When the plants are about nine or ten 
inches high they should be transplanted into the bed in 
which they are to bo permanently grown, taking advan- 



54 A E TI C E KE. -- 

tage of cloudy or wet weather for this operation. As the 
roots peuetrate to a great depth and the plants require 
very rich sci], the Led should be heavily manured, well 
and deeply spaded, and the soil well pulverized. A good 
dressing of salt, as for asparagus, is also useful — for the 
artichoke likes a saline soil — and a top dressing of it may 
also be given every year or two. 

After being carefully taken up, the plants may be set 
with a dibble, in rows four or five feet apart and two feet 
from plant to plant on the row; being careful not to insert 
the heart of the leaves below the surface of the soil. If the 
weather is dry at the time of planting, or should be dry be- 
fore the plants get wcU established, hberal watering should 
be given. lu a bed composed of seedlings there will often 
be found a great diftcreuco in the size of the flower buds or 
heads— the part used. It is therefore best to mark those 
which produce the largest and most succulent flower heads, 
and from those take the suckers for planting a new bed. 
These should be taken oil" in May, when they are five or 
six inches high, and planted in a permanent bed prepared 
as above directed. 

The after culture consists in keeping the bed clear of 
weeds and every season spading in some manure in order 
to produce healthy, vigorous plants, with strong flower 
stalks and blooms. Unless wanted for the purpose of 
making a new bed in the sjning, all the suckers, with the 
exception of two or three, should be taken ofi' the parent 
plant, in order to strengthen it. The ol)ject to be attained 
is large flower heads— hence the whole culture must be 
such as will produce a strong growth of the plants, giving 
them plenty of room to develop their fohage and sustaming 
the plants with liberal supplies of manure. If the flower 
stems show more than three or four flower buds, all in 



A s p A n A a r s. 55 

excess of that uum'ber should he remored. In vrinter, 
when the frost sets in, the x>lauts should each receive a 
covering five or six inches thick, of leaves, sea-weed, or 
long niauuve, to protect them from frost. If there is any 
prohabihty of water lodging on the bed dm-ing winter, 
then drains of a foot or more in depth shoiold be dug about 
tvro feet from the rovv s, so as to carry off the water, for, by 
lodging on the plants, it will cause the crowns to rot. 

When grown for chard the leaves and flower stalks 
should be cut off in June cr early in July, within six inches 
of the ground. In September or October, Avhen tlie new 
leaves are about two feet long, they should be somewhat 
loosely tied together and wound vnih hay or straw bands 
to blanch them, adding some litter at the bottom to assist 
the process ; or they may be earthed up in the same way as 
celery. In about six weeks they will be ready for use. 
This blanching process should only be done with old beds 
about to be broken up, as it destroys the plants for bloom- 
ing. When it is intended to use the heads for pickling 
they should be cut when about tvvo inches ia diameter. 
When they are to be used as salad, cut them when they 
have nearly attained their full size, but before the scales 
of the calyx begin to open or spread. When the recepta- 
cles or bottoms ai'e to be used for stewhig or frying, the 
heads should be cut just as the scales- begin to spread or 
open. If they are aUowed to remain until the flower 
proper begins to show itself, they become unfit for use. 



ASPAHAGUS. 

This plant will succeed in any rich, deep, dry and porous 
soil, through which water can readily drain away ; but it 
does not succeed well m heavy, close soils deficient in under 



56 ASFAJtAGUS. 

drainage ; but if this latter requisite is provided, almost 
any soil can be so prepared as to loroduce fair crops of it. 

Aspai'agas plants are raised by solving tbo seeds in tlio 
month of .September if autumn sown, or in Ibo month of 
Ai>ril if spring sown. The seed bed should bo composed 
of good, rich soil, well pulverized and manured with well- 
rotted manure. Tho seed, of which an ounco will produce 
about a thousand ])lauts, or bo sufficient for Ijfly or sixty 
feet of driU, should bo thinly sown in drills twelve inches 
apart and an inch in depth. After the plants come up, 
the bed should be kept thoroughly clear of weeds by 
repeated boeings. Tho plants, if well cared for, will be 
largo enough to plant out in permanent beds when a year 
old, but some cultivators prefer to let them remain until 
they are two years old. Ordinarily it is a saving of time 
to purchase tho roots from a nurseryman or seedsman, as 
one or two years' time can be gained by so doing. 

As asparagus beds, if properly prepared and attended 
to, will yield good shoots for twenty years, it is poor pohcy 
to neglect tho proper preparation of the bed, or stint the 
supply of fertilizing material. They may be prepared and 
planted either in the autumn or in the spring as soon as 
the ground is in good worl^ing order, up to llio middle or 
end of April. The ground should be trenched two spades 
deep, and each spade of depth should have three or foiu: 
inches deep of well-rotted manure dug into the soil, mixing 
it thoroughly. Coarse bone-dust or crushed bone is also 
an excellent fertilizer for this i)lant. 

It is usual to plant the roots in beds each five feet wide, 
and containing three rows of plants one foot apart and a 
foot between either of the outer rows and tho edge of the 
bed, and then allowing two or two and a half feet alley- 
way between the beds; but this is by no means absolutely 



ASPARAGUS. 67 

necessary, as the beds can be made of any desired width, 
and we think it is better to give greater space between 
the rows than ia usually done — say fiileeu to eighteen 
inches ajDart — in order to allow free access of Ught and air, 
for it is the strong, healthy growth of the plant durmg the 
present season, that produces a crop of large, succulent 
shoots the ensuing spring and summer. 

Another mode is to plant them in long rows three feet 
apart, with the plants set fifteen to eighteen inches apart 
on the row ; preparing the soil with the plow and sub- 
soUer, working in plenty of manure into the trenches. 
This is the mode adopted for field culture, and where the 
garden space admits of it, and the be<Is are cultivated by 
horse hoes, it is the preferable mode if large quantities of 
shoots are required. 

In planting the roots after the beds are prepared, 
stretch a line the length of the row, open a trench six or 
eight inches deep, somewhat sloping on the side next to 
the line, against this side lay the plants with the crowns 
about six or seven inches from the surface of the bed, 
spreading out the roots fanwise, and as you proceed throw- 
ing in the excavated earth against them, and pressing it 
down firmly with the foot. When planted in rows a foot 
apart the plants will get more air and light by being 
planted in quincunx. 

The after cultivation of the beds consists in keeping 
them scrupulously clear of weeds; every spring give them 
a top dressmg of rotted manure, superphosphate of lime 
or guano. In the interior of the country, away from the 
influence of the sea air, a top dressing of salt is beneficial, 
apphed at the rate of fifteen or sixteen pounds to sixty 
square yards. A liberal application of liquid manure may 
also be used to great advantage. A spading fork is pre- 



58 lyuLJ^Sil Bit O A I) LEAXS. 

ferablo to a spado in turning- in the manure, as it is less 
'liable to cut or injure tbo roots, but even this should not 
be inserted more than five or f^ix inches deep. In sections 
of the coimtry Avhere the winters are severe, or there is 
but little snow, it is jirudent to protect the beds by a 
coverhig of leaves, sea -weed, or long manure, three or four 
inches thick, rcmovhig it early in tlie spring. 

The shoots should not be cut before the third year after 
planting, and then but sparingly ; after that the yield will 
be abundant. In the Middle States the cutting should 
cease about the 10th of June, but in the Eastern and 
Northern States it may bo continued until the 25th of that 
month. All the shoots that form seed berries should be 
cut out as soon as the berries are formed, or the berries 
stripped off, as the seed bearing is very exhaustive to the 
plant, anrl causes the roots to send up weak shoots the 
next season. 

A bed containing about thirty square yards will supply 
from twenty-five to thirty shoots a day. 

All of the so-called varieties of asparagus appear to be 
but one, except, perhaps, the variety known as Conovefs 
Colossal. Good cultivation produces all the distinction 
that there is between them. 



ENGLISH BROAD BEANS, 

This class of beans is largely grown in England and 
Scotland, but in this country it does not succeed so well, 
on accomit of the excessive heat. If, however, they are 
sown very early in the open ground, or started in pots or 
boxes in a frame or cellar and transplanted, a good crop 
may bo had in June. They require a cool, humid climate, 
and strong, moist soil moderately enriched ; if the soil is 



ENGLISH BROAD BEANS. 59 

liglit, it should be manured freely with covr manure. Out- 
door sowing should be done as soon in the spring as the 
ground is in worliiug order. 

They should be sown in diills about two inches deep, 
but varying as to the distance of the rows and the plants 
on the row, according to the variety. When they are 
three or four inches high they shoidd be carefully hoed, 
and as they progress should be earthed up once or twice 
during their growth. When the young pods form on the 
lower ijart of the stem, the top shoots should be pinched 
otf ; otherwise the plant will go on growing and flowering, 
to the injury and retardation of the crop. They may be 
greatly forwarded by starting them in a moderate hot-bed 
in February, and transplanting them out-of-doors about 
the 20th of March, or from that time until the first of April, 
according to the weather. The transplanting should be 
carefully done with a trowel, so as not to check their 
growth. 

Another mode is to cover a small piece of ground in the 
autumn with a sufficient thickness of manure or leaves to 
keep out the frost, removing the covering in February, and 
then placing a frame aud sashes over the soil and sowing 
the seeds in it. The frame must be protected from frost 
by suitable coverings to the sashes, and banking up the 
frame with earth or manure. The seeds may also be sown 
in February in pots or boxes in a light, warm cellar, keep- 
ing them close to the windows. The plants raised by 
either of these modes are to be transplanted as already 
directed. The pods should be gathered for use when the 
beans are half grown, as they are then delicate in fla- 
vor, while if allowed to grow larger they become coarse 
flavored, flatulent and indigestible. 

Many varieties are grown abroad, but for our climate 



60 BUSH BEANS. 

the three following are the best: MarshaWs Early Dwarf 
Prolific, which grows from eighteen mches to two feet 
high, branching out very freely at the bottom, and is very 
productive (the rows should bo two and a half to three 
feet apart, with the plants four to six inches apart on the 
row); tho Jlo!/il Dwarf Cluster, which grows only ten to 
fifteen inches high, is very i)roductive and branches con- 
siderably (the rows should be eighteen to twenty inches 
apart, and the plants ten to twelve inches apart on the 
row); and the Long Pod, which grows from three to four 
feet high, is non-branching and very productive, but later 
than the first two varieties named. The rows of Long Pod 
should be three to four feet apart, and the plants four to 
six inches apart on the row. 



BUSH BEANS. 



These will grow in any good garden soil moderately 
enriched; if too highly manured it will cause them to run 
to tops too much. The proper time for sowing them is 
from any period after the 10th of May until the beginning 
of August. It is better to sow them in drills than in hills ; 
the drills should be about two inches deep, and from two 
to three feet apart, according to the sort. The beans should 
be dropped from two to three inches apart on tho row. 
As they progi-ess in growth, hoe them carefully, and draw 
up some earth to the stems. 

Tho varieties arc very numerous, but for ordinary cidti- 
vation the following three sorts will be quite sufficient : 

Earlu Valentine; is early, tender and productive, gen- 
erally being fit for use six weeks after sowing. It con- 
tinues much longer in a green state than most other varie- 
ties. 



POLE BEANS. 61 

Nemngton Wonder; is a very dwarf growing variety 
and wonderfully productive. The pods are very tender. 
It is an excellent succession sort. The drills for this sort 
may be two feet apart. 

Refugee; is a very productive, but not an early sort ; 
the poda are tender, of good flavor, and much used for 
pickhng. It withstands the late heats of summer better 
than most other sorts. 



POLE BEANS. 



There are two classes of these beans — those which are 
used as string beans and those which are used as shelled 
beans. The former are scarcely worth the trouble of grow- 
ing, as their place is well supplied by the dwarf string 
beans, which are much easier grown. 

They require a light, somewhat sandy soil, which must 
be well enriched with manure in the hills in which they 
are grown. The seeds should be sown about two inches 
deep in hills three to four feet apart, with a stake or pole 
eight or nine feet high set in the centre of the hill at the 
time of planting. The planting should not be done before 
the 15th of May and may be continued until the end of 
June. If planted too early they will rot in the ground. 
Five or six beans should be sown in each hill, and when 
they have attained their second leaf, all but three or four 
should be pulled up. The after cultivation consists in one 
or two hillings up and keeping them clear of weeds. 
Nipping off the ends of the shoots after they have reached 
the top of the poles has a tendency to make the plants 
more fi-uitful. 

If it is desired to have them earlier than they would pro- 



62 BEET. 

duce in the open air, plants can be raised from beans sown 
one each in a half pint pot in April and kept in a cold 
frame ; these will 1)0 ready for transplanting by the end of 
May, and will como in ten days or two weeks sooner than 
those sown in the open air. 

Of those used as string beans the London IlorUcuUural 
is the best, as it can also be used as a shelled bean, and is 
excellent when dried ur ripe. 

Of the shelled class none equals the i/;«a and its variety, 
the Sicva. The latter is somewhat hardier and is several 
days earlier than the first, but is not so large. 



BEET. 

Beets require a ricli, deep, well-pnlverized soil; but it is 
not necessary to manure the soil for the present crop if it 
has been well manured for previous crops of other vege- 
tables. Coarse manure produces misshapen, ill-flavored 
roots. A top dressing of salt or guano, bone dust, super- 
phosphate or wood ashes, is beneficial, even if the soil is 
rich. 

For an early crop the tm'uip-rooted varieties are the most 
suitable. They can be sown as early as the first week of 
April in a sheltered border. The drills should be a foot 
apart and one to two inches in depth; the seeds being 
dropped along the row about two inches apart, then 
covered in with a rake, and rolled or else pressed down by 
laying a board over the drill and walking on it, to set the 
earth finnly about the seeds. For succession crops, sow 
every two weeks, from the first of April until the first of 
June. The crop will be more tender and delicate when 
thus sown in succes.sifsn, as those first sown become harder 
and not so well flavored as the hot weather approaches. 



BEET. 63 

When the plants are three or four inches high, they should 
he thinned out to six inches apart. As each capsule con- 
tains five or six seeds, as many plants will come up from 
each, thus making several plants have the appearance of 
one. It is therefore necessary to carefully thin out each 
little group to one plant, as otherwise they will interfere 
with and choke each other. This thinning out should be 
done when the plants are quite young. If any vacancies 
occur in the bed, dibble in some of tlie plants drawn out, 
being careful not to break the tips of the roots. During 
their growth they require to be frequently hoed and to be 
kept clear of weeds. 

The general crop of long-rooted varieties should be sown 
about the end of May, or during June, as the plants will 
then have a free, unchecked growth, which prevents the 
roots becoming tough or stringy through being stunted. 
Even if sown as late as tlie first week in July, they will fre- 
quently produce good roots in the autumn. The rows 
should be from eighteen inches to two feet apart, and the 
plants eight or ten inches apart on the row. The after 
culture consists in keeping them well hoed and free from 
weeds. 

A dozen or more varieties may be found in the seed 
catalogues, but the following three, all things considered, 
are the liest: 

Egyptian Turnip-rooted ; this is the earliest variety; it 
has small upright leaves ; the roots are of a deep crimson 
color, and well flavored. 

Earhj Short Top Bound; is an improvement on the 
Early Blood Turnip-rooted; it is shorter in the leaves, 
more free from rootlets, and flatter in shape. 

Lony Smooth Blood; is earlier than the common blood, 
is not so strong a grower, and more free IVom rootlets. 



64 BROCCOLI. 

EOUECOLE OE KALE. 

Of tliis vegetable tlierc are two classes— one grown for 
spring use, and tlie other for autumn and winter use. 

The first, known as dwarf German greens, and in our 
markets as sprouts, should be sown somewhat thinly in 
drills half an inch deep and a foot apart, in the month of 
September ; the beds in which it remains receiving the 
same treatment as spinach. It requires a good rich, light 
soil, well drained, for if water lodges on the beds it will 
rot. 

Those for autumn use should bo sown in seed beds from 
the middle of April to the middle of May, and transplanted 
into the permanent bed in June or July. They also re- 
quire a good rich soil, their cultivation in all respects 
being the same as that of cabbage. They are very hardy, 
and are better flavored when touched by frost than other- 
wise. 

The best two varieties for winter use arc the Dicarf 
Green Curled and the Purple Leaved. The first seldom 
grows more than eighteen inches high, and the plants 
may be set that distance apart. The last grows about 
thirty inches high, and should be planted two feet apart 
on the rows. 



BROCCOLI. 

This vegetable is so similar to, and so closely allied to the 
cauliflower, that it is almost impossible for those not having 
a botanical education to see wherein the difference consists, 
yet from certain botanical distinctions they may be dis- 
tinguished one from the other. The broccoli is generally 
supposed to have been derived from the tall curled kale, 



BROCCOLI. 65 

anti originated in the northern part of Europe, whilst the 
cauhflower is supposed to have been derived from what is 
liuown as the Couve Tronchuda, or Portugal Cabbage, and 
to have originated in the south of Europe ; tradition says 
in the Isle of Cyprus. The broccoli is much the hardier 
of the two, and is best for an autumn crop in this country. 

Broccoh requires a very rich soil, its general treatment 
being the same as cabbage. A top dressing of lime and 
salt, or a middling of sea-weed, is very useful to them. The 
seed should be sown in a seed bed in the open air about 
the middle of May, rather sparingly in drills half an inch 
deep, and from four to six inches apart. A quarter of an 
ounce of seed will sow a piece of ground four by four feet, 
and produce about a thousand plants. 

The plants will be of proper size to transplant by the 
beginning of July, when they should be set out in a per- 
manent bed, giving them a good watering after they have 
been transplanted. The proper cUstanco to set them is in 
rows two and a half feet apart, and the plants two feet 
apart on the rows. After they have well taken root, they 
should have a good deep hoeing, and this shoidd be re- 
peated two or three times, as they progress in gi'owth, 
drawing up some earth to the stems at each hoeing. 

Every care should be had not to allow the plants to be- 
come stimted by the extreme heat or drought of the sum- 
mer; to produce good flower heads, they require to be 
kept in a growing, flourishing condition until the com- 
mencement of cool, moist autumn weather. Frequent 
waterings may therefore be necessary, should the summer 
be hot or dry ; occasional waterings with manure water 
will be very beneficial under any circumstances. 

Under almost any circumstances it will be found that 
some of the plants mil not flower before frost sets in. 



m BRUSSELS SPEOUTS. 

Such plants sliould be carefully lifted and planted up to 
their leaves, just close enough together to touch each other, 
in a frame two boards high, banked up \ylth earth, man- 
ure or leaves, covered with sashes, piotecting them from 
the frost at night or on cold days with suitable coverings 
of straw or hay, giving air hi the middle of the day on 
hue, sunny days. If there is an overplus of heads, they 
may be saved by hfting the plants and planting them in 
boxes filled with earth, and placed in a light, dry ceUar. 

Out of more than a hundred varieties known in England, 
the following three varieties will be found the most satis- 
factory to the amateur grower in this country. Purple 
Cape, a very hardy, sure heading variety, with purple 
flower heads ; the color fUsappears in cooking, and it does 
not dilTer from the white variety in flavor. Enrhj Walch- 
cren^ by some considered a cauliflower, has white flower 
heads, and is much earlier than the other varieties. It is 
the leading variety among market gardeners. 

KnigMs Protecting ; is a very hardy white flowered 
variety, of dwarf, compact growth ; the plants may there- 
fore be set eighteen inches apart in the row. It is not an 
early variety, but is excellent for planting in frames, as it 
will continue heading until January. 



BRITSSELS SPROUTS. 

This delicious vegetable belongs to the cabbage family 
and in its general appearance resembles a tall kale or 
borecole. It grows three or four feet high, producing on 
the stem numerous miniature cabbage heads, varying from 
one to two inches in diameter, which are very tender and 
delicately flavored, especially when slightly touched by 
frost. 



CABBAGE. 67 

The seed should be sowu about the middle of May in a 
prepared bed, and in July the plants should be trans- 
planted t^vo feet each way in the permanent bed, or the 
seeds may be sown in a hot-bed in March or April, and 
the plants transplanted when three or four inches high, 
which will bring them into use a month or six weeks 
earlier than when sown in May. The after culture is the 
same as that of cabbages. 

If the later planted plants should not head, they should 
be taken up before severe freezing weather sets in, and 
planted in a cellar, when they will ahbrd a succession of 
heads during the winter. 

The tall or giant variety is the hardiest, and produces 
the largest number of heads. As this vegetable is apt to 
revert back to its original type, and not to pi'oduce its 
small heads unless great care is used in saving the seed, it 
should only be purchased from seedsmen of known respect- 
ability. 



CABBAGE. 



Cabbage requires a deep, fresh, loamy soil, and does not 
succeed well in land that has been long under cultivation, 
or that is very dry and sandy. 

The soil in which it is grown should be liberally manured, 
especially for the early varieties, with good barn-yard 
manure, and as it likes a hmestone and saline soil, an ad- 
dition of fine ground bone, and a top dressing of salt, will 
be found advantageous, or manure prepared with the lime 
and salt mixture as directed in the chapter on Manures. 
Wood ashes are also useful. 

There are two or three ways of raising the early sorts. 
The tirst mode is to sow the seeds in an open-air prepared 



63 CABBAGE. 

bed, from the 10th to the 25th of September, anrl, when the 
plants are live or .six weeks old, pricking them out into a 
cold frauie three to six inches apart each way, inserting 
the plant down to the lirst leaf, and then protecting theui 
during the 'Ronter by sashes and straw or litter coverings, 
giving them plenty of air on bright, sunny days. Plants 
thus raised make very hardy, stocky plants for spring 
planting. 

Another mode is in the fall to set a frame in a warm, 
sheltered situation, and filling it up with leaves, and then 
covering it with sashes or boards, and over them straw 
or leaves, to prevent the frost from getting down to the soil. 
About the latter end of January or beginning of February 
the leaves may be thrown out, the soil nicely chig, and the 
seed sown in the frame, putting on the sashes and protect- 
ing it from the frost as in the fiist mode. 

The third mode is to sow the seed in a hot-bed about 
the latter end of February or the beginning of March. For 
their general treatment in this mode, see the chapter on 
Hot-beds. 

From the first to the middle of April, the plants raised 
liy either of these modes may be transplanted with a dibble 
into the permanent bed, and will produce good heads in 
June. The distance apart will depend upon the varieties 
grown, some requiring much more room than others, as 
they differ in their growths. Such early sorts as we shall 
recommend may be planted in rows two feet apart, the 
plants being set on the rows eighteen inches apart. They 
should be occasionany hoed and earthed up. 

For the late or autumn crop, the seed should be sown in 
a prepared bed in the open ground during the month of 
May, the drUls being three or four inches apart. In all 
sowings, see that the plants do not stand too thickly 



CABBAGE, 69 

together, so as to guard agaiust their being drawn up. 
In the second or third week of July they should be trans- 
planted into the permanent bed, in rows three feet apart, 
and two feet from plant to plant. As they progress In 
growth, they should receive three or four deep hoeings 
and be slightly earthed up. 

For the different ways of preserving cabbage durmg the 
winter, see the chapter on Preserving Vegetables. 

Cabbage is very liable to be what is called club-footed, 
when grown two or more years in succession on the same 
soil; it shoiUd therefore always be grown succeeding peas, 
beets, carrots, parsnips, or some other crop disshnilar to 
itself, and never after cauhflowers, kohl-rabi, German 
greens, or any other cruciferous plants. This disease 
shows itself in the form of radish-hke swellings of the stem 
or of knotty protuberances on the roots, and is generally 
discernible on the young plants in the seed bed at the time 
of transplanting. All such plants should be thrown away. 
Soil has much to do with clubbing, which is more prevalent 
on poor, graveUy soils, than upon those that are deep and 
rich. Some persons think that the disease is due to the 
larvaj of an insect, as the grub of some insect is almost 
always found in the diseased part, but insects being found 
in these abnormal growths is not always proof that the 
insects have produced them, for many insects seek such 
growths in which to lay their eggs. Others think that it 
is due to the exhaustion from the soil of some constituent 
necessary to the growth of the plant. We know that all 
the cabbage tribe have a large quantity of sulphur in their 
composition, as is evidenced by the fumes of sulphuretcd 
hydrogen given out when they are in a state of fermenta- 
tion and decomposition, and the flour made from the seed, 
as in 13our of mustard, turning silver black when exposed 



70 CABBAGE. 

till its action. It may tlierefore he tlmt tliis eioment may 
be largely wauting iu some soils, aud soon exhausted hy 
the cahhage crop. Late experiments in England hear 
out this view, as it has been found that a light sprinkling 
of flour of sulphur iu the seed drills, or suli)hur applied 
Avith the manure at the rate of seven or eight pounds, to 
the acre, is a preventive of this djsease. It would also 
destroy the larvte of the insect if it is caused hy it, as no 
insects can stand the action of sulphur, which, in a finely 
comminuted state, is no doubt readily acted upon by the 
atmosphere, and flour of sulphur always contains a largo 
amount of free sulphurous acid gas. 

The varieties of cabbage are very numerous, but for 
family use the following sorts will be found the most desir- 
able. The large, coarse-headed sorts arc by no means 
the best, as they are wanting in delicacy of flavor, and are 
only suitable for farming purposes or for making sauer- 
kraiit. 

Earhj Jersey Wakefield; for an early cabbage has a 
large sized head, with small outside leaves, and heads well. 
As it does not produce seed freely, it is sometimes difficult 
to get seeds of this sort. It is so much esteemed by the 
New York market gardeners, that they sometimes pay $20 
per pound for the seed. 

Earl// York; is an old standard sort, very productive, 
and quite as early as the preceding, but not as large 
headed. It is a compact growing sort, and may be planted 
in rows eighteen inches apart, and fifteen to eighteen 
inches in the rows. 

Bergen Brnmltcail ; is one of the most popular sorts 
grown for the New York market, producing large, round, 
tender and well flavored heads. It should be planted 
three feet apart each way. 



<• A n D <) X. 71 

Mason; is a New England variety of medium size, form- 
ing a solid liead; it is very reliable in beading and is very 
fine flavored. 

Green Globe Savoy; bas a medium sized, round but 
ratber loosely formed bead of fine texture, and excellent, 
mild flavor. Tbe inner loose leaves are nearly as good as tbe 
bead wben cooked. It is very bardy, and is better for use 
after it bas been frosted. As it is late in beading, it sbould 
be sown early in tbe seed bed. 

Hed Dutch; is cbiefly used for picldiug, or for mixing witb 
wbito cabbage, in making cold-slaw. It bas a medium 
sized, very solid bead of a deep red color, and keeps well. 
Like tbe savoys, it takes a long season to mature, and 
sbould tbcrefore be sown earlv. 



CARDOON. 



Tbis plant belongs to tbe same genus as tbe articboke; 
tbe stems of tbe leaves, wbicb are tbick and crisp, being 
used wben blancbed as asparagus or celery, for soups, 
stews, or as a salad. It is in season in autumn and early 
winter. 

It requires a moderately ricb soil, enricbed witb well- 
decftmposed manure; if tbe manure is too fresb and strong, 
tbe plants wUl be apt to rim to seed, wben it becomes use- 
less as a vegetable. 

Tbe seeds sbould be sown in April, in rows tbreo feet 
apart, in groups of tbree or four seeds, tbe groups being 
twelve or fifteen iucbes apart on tbe row, and tbe seeds 
covered an incb or an incb and a balf deep. "SYbeu tbe 
plants are tbree or four incbes bigb, all but one in eacb 
group sbould be pulled up. If during tbe summer tbe 
weatber sbould be very dry, tbey sbould be freely watered. 



72 VAEItOT. 

In September the ])lants will have attained their full 
growth and be ready for blanching. This process is best 
done by tying the leaves together with bast rQatttng or 
stnng, then drawing a httle earth up to the base of the 
plant, and then covering it vertically, or thatching it with 
a thickness of one or two inches of long straw, held in 
place by proper ties of matting or twine. In about three 
or four weeks they will be sufficiently blancbod to use. 

For a winter supply, the plants may be laid in a trench as 
directed for celery, or taken up with their roots just before 
cold weather sets m, and then packed in (hy sand, one 
course above another, in a dry cellar. They will keep well 
and become more perfectly blanched. 

There are five or sis sorts, but for use in this country 
the Largt Smooth is as good as any. 



CAREOT. 



The carrot prefers ;i light, loamy soil, that has been 
well manured for the previous crops and does not require 
fresh manure ; for if the soil is too rich, the plants have a 
tendency to run to leaf and not to form roots, and fresh 
manure is apt to cause the roots, as it does with all spindle- 
shaped roots, to become forked and deformed. The soil 
should be deeply spaded and well pulverized. 

For an early crop, a small bed may be sown in a shel- 
tered spot as early as the end of March, and from that time 
until the end of May, at intervals of two weeks, for succes- 
sion crops. The principal or late crop should not be sown 
until June. 

For the early crop the drills should be about an inch 
deep and a foot apart, the plants being thinned out to five 
or six inches apart on the row, and kept well hoed and 



C A r LI F LO W EB. 73 

clear of -sveeds during the season. When grown as a field 
crop, the drills should he twenty inches apart. As the 
seed comes up slowly, and docs not mark out the row very 
distinctly, a sprinkhng of red turnip-rooted radish is often 
sown in the same drills Avith the carrot seed, in order to 
facihtate the hoeing and weeding. Owing to the seed 
being liable to be killed by drought, it is always best to 
sow it somewhat thickly, and thin out afterwards. The 
soil should always be rolled after the seed is sown, so as 
to firm it down and keep the dry summer air from the 
seed, as that retai'ds and even prevents its vegetating. 
The best two sorts for garden culture, are the 
Early Born, which is best for the early crop ; the root 
is about two inches in diameter and six inches in length, 
tapering but httle and terminating abruptly in a very 
slender tap-root. On account of its short root, it is well 
adapted for thin, poor soils, in which the longer rooted 
varieties do not succeed so well. In such soils it can be 
grown as a late as well as an early crop. 

The Long Orange is generally grown for the main crop, 
and is so well known that it does not need any description. 
It is as well adapted for field as for garden culture. 



CAULIFLOWER. 



Like the broccoli, to which it is akin, the cauliflower re- 
quires a very rich soO. to succeed well and to grow it to 
perfection. In our cUmate it is best grown for early sum- 
mer use, as it does not succeed as well as the broccoh when 
grown for autumn use, owing to the severe heat and 
drought of our summers. 

The best mode of cultivating it, is to sow the seeds, from 
the 10th to the 20th of September, in a bed of rich soil. In 



74 C A r L I F L O W E B . 

from four to six Aveeks after wards, tlic plants should be 
pricked out or transpkmtcd, one each into a pint flower- 
pot fiUed with rich soil— say one-third well-rotted manure 
and two-thirds earth — and kept over winter in a cold 
frame, well protected from frost by Imiugs and coverings, 
giving air on sunny days. 

As soon as the \veather is settled, or about the fii'st to 
the 10th of April, they should be turned out of the pots, 
without breaking the balls, into the permanent bed; plant- 
ing them in rows about thirty inches apart, and eighteen 
inches l)etween the plants. A top dressing of lime or salt, 
or a mulching of sea-weed, is beneficial to them, as well 
as to broccoU. They should bo well hoed and cared for 
during their growth, from time to time drawing up some 
earth around the stems. In dry v.eather they should have 
a liberal supply of water, \\ ith now and then some manure- 
water. 

When the flower heads show themselves, some of the 
leaves should be broken over them, in order to protect 
them from the rain and sun, and to keep the heads close 
and of a pure white color. They will be fit for use during 
the month of June or the beginning of July. 

Their growth may be accelerated by placing over each 
plant a small protecting frame, which should be allowed to 
remain over them until the leaves begin to touch the glass, 
giving air every fine day. By using a protecting frame, 
they may be planted out by the beginning of Ai)ril, or soon 
after the frost is out of the ground, as they will stand four 
or five degrees of frost. 

Another mode is to transplant the plants, when four or 
five weeks old, into a cold frame, as in wintering over 
cabbage plants, and next spring to transplant them with a 
trowel into the permanent bed. In such a frame they 



CELERY. 75 

should be pricked out to a distance of sis inches apart each 
^\•ay. The soil in the frame should be kept rather dry, for 
if very damp, aud the frames are not kept well aired on 
sunny, mdd days, the ijlants will be liable to damp off. 

Cauliflower seed may also be sown in a hot-bed in Janu- 
ary or February, and when the plants are two or three 
inches high they should be transplanted, two or three inches 
apart, into boxes or into a spent hot-bed, until the proper 
time arrives for planting them in the open ground. Such 
plants, however, do not succeed quite as well as those 
wintered over. 

The best two sorts are the 

Early Erfurt; an early, dwarf-growing variety, pro- 
ducing good sized, uniformly close, compact heads. 

Early Walcheren; is the same as the broccoli of the 
same name, and, as before stated, it can hardly be deter- 
mined whether it is a cauliflower or a broccoU. It is pos- 
sibly a cross between the two. This succeeds so much 
better as an autumn ci'op than any other cauliflower, that 
we do not recommend any of the true cauliflowers for that 
pui-pose. Its cidtivation as an autumn crop is found under 
the head of broccoli. 



CELERY. 

This iS a somewhat troublesome vegetable to gi^ow, as it 
requires a great deal of management and much laboi-, 
especially if the larger sorts are grown in the old method 
of deep trenches and high banking up. Of late yeiirs 
dwarfer sorts have been introduced, and a less laborious 
and troublesome method of growing and blanchmg it has 
become more general. By some of our later writers on 
gardening the present method has been claimed to be a 
new one, but it was in use thirty or more years ago. 



76 C E L E li Y. 

It can bo grown so as to be fit for the table in August or 
September, but it is scarcely desirable to do so, as it is 
seldom wanted at that season of the year, and is not gen- 
erally as good as that which comes in later in the season. 
We shall confine ourselves to giving directions for grow- 
mg the dwarf varieties as a late crop, they being much 
easier to grow and fully equal for family use to the larger 
growing sorts. 

In the beginuing of April, or as soon as the soil will work 
freely, in an airy spot not exposed to great heat, prepare 
a seed bed, the soil of which should be well pulverized 
and enriched with decomposed stable manure, raking it 
smoothly. Draw drills eight or nine inches apart and 
half an inch deep, and in them sow the seed rather 
thinly. After sowing, roll the bed, or with a board press 
the soil firmly about the seeds. When they are two or 
three inches high they should be pricked out, four to six 
inches apart each way, into a nursery-bed of rich earth, in 
which they may remain for five or six weeks, at which 
time they will be about seven or eight inches high, and 
ready to transplant into the regular beds. When pricked 
out into the nursery bed, they should be watered and 
lightly shaded for two or three days, and if the weather is 
dry they should receive frequent and liberal waterings. 

The transplanting into the permanent bed may be done 
at any time in the month of July, or even up to the middle 
of August. There are many ways of preparing these beds, 
but we only give directions for two such different modes as 
involve the least labor. 

A bod four to six feet wide, and of auy desirable length, 
should be dug out to a foot in depth, and the soil laid upon 
the edges of the bed; the bottom is then to be well spaded, 
and well manured with either short stable or cow manure, 



CELERY. 77 

or with guano. In this bed the plants are to set in rows 
fourteen inches ajDart, and the plants nine inches apart on 
the rows. When taking them from the nursery bed, be 
careful to take them up with all their roots attached, and 
be sure to set them firmly in the soil of the bed. The 
leaves should be left entire, and not clipped or shortened, 
only removing any suckers that may grow from the main 
stem. After planting they should be well watered, and 
shaded by placing a board about eight or nine inches wide 
directly over each row, and an inch or two above the plants. 
The intervening space between the boards will admit light 
and air; at the end of a week or ten days they will be 
well established, and the Ijoards can then be removed. 
During their growth they will be benefited by occasional 
waterings of weak guano water, being careful not to let it 
get into the heart of the plant. 

From the middle to the end of August, the earthing up 
process may be begim for such as may be wanted for use in 
September or October; and about the middle of September 
for such as may be needed for use in November. "When 
the plants are about fifteen or eighteen inches high, remove 
any suckers or ofishoots, and then take two boards nine 
inches wide, as long as the width of the bed ; place one on 
each side of a row of plants, close up to them. Then fill 
in the space between them with the soil taken out of the 
bed, pulverizing it very finely as it is thrown in, letting it 
remain as thrown m without treading down. When the 
spaces between the two rows is filled in to the height of the 
boards, gently and carefully withdraw them, and do 
another row in the same way. Wlien tbe ooards are with- 
drawn, the loose earth will roll down into the spaces 
between the plants without getting into their hearts, and 
wiU make a level earthing up of about six inches. The 



78 C E L E Fx T. 

process is to be repeated two or three times, or every fort- 
nigiit, according to the height the plants may attain. 
.Some jjlace the boards slightly inclining towards the 
plants, retaining them in this position by triangular pieces 
of hoard shaped like an inverted V. This is done the 
better to insure the earth falling in between the plants 
when the boards are removed. Earthing up shoidd bo 
done when the plants are finite dry, for if done when they 
have dew or rain upon them they will be hable to rust. 
Thus treated, all the trouble of handling the plants and 
pressing the soil in between the plants by hand is avoided. 

Some gardeners do not commence earthing them up 
until they have attained nearly their full size, and gcner- 
all> do it at one operation, earthing them as high as can 
be done without l)urying their hearts. In this case wider 
boards will be required. Should the weather continue 
open and mild, and the plants conti::uc growing, they 
give thorn another earthing up about the first of Novem- 
ber. Others let the plants make their natm-al gr'owth, and 
earth them up at one operation three or four Avceks before 
they arc wanted for use. It is not necessary to earth up 
that which is intended for winter use more than once. 

A second mode of growing them is to set out the plants 
at one foot apart each way, in a level bed of rich soil 
Planted thus thickly, the plants retain an erect position 
but are not as large and strong as when grown by the 
previous method. The soil between the plants must 
receive two or three successive hoeings to keep the plants 
clear of weeds. When grown in this way it is intended 
for midwinter or later use, being blanched in the preserv- 
mg iiit. 

The best mode of preservuig it for winter use is to dig 
out a trench ten or twelve inches wide with square sides, 



CELERY. 79 

the depth to correspond with the height of the celery, and 
of any convenient length from four to six or eight feet. 
Into this trench the celery is placed after it is dug up, 
just as it comes from the bed, without trinnning either the 
roots or tops. The plants are to be put in upright, one by 
one, side by side against the sides of the trench, and the 
earth then lihed in. Another trench is then opened along- 
side the first and about twelve inches from it, and thus 
one trench after the other until the whole crop is laid in. 
The tops are to be left uncovered and projecting a couple 
of inches. The time to commence this operation is about 
the 20th of October, and it can be continued at intervals 
of a week apart ; that first set in the trench will be fit for 
use by the first of December, and that last put in can be 
used until March or April. 

When the last lot is put in, the bed should be covered 
with a layer of small brush to the depth of five or six inches, 
and on this a layer of leaves, hay or straw should be 
gradually laid, so tliat by the middle of December, or 
when cold weather has steadily set m, it will amount to a 
foot or more in depth. This mode of covering it with brush, 
and gradually with other material, will keep it cool and 
prevent it heating or decaying. As the covering keeps 
out the fi-ost, the celery can be dug out as wanted during 
the winter. If there is any danger of water from the sur- 
rounding land getting into the bed, an open drain should 
be opened all around the bed, as the bed shoidd be kei)t as 
dry as possible. 

The best dwarf sorts are the followmg : 

Early Dwarf Solid White, Incomparable White of some 
seedsmen, has a solid leaf stalk, compact heart, well 
flavored, early and hardy, and blanching readily. 

Boston 3Iarket; is hardy, crisp, sohd, mild flavored, not 
liable to become stringy, and blanches quicklj'. 



80 C ELE RIAC. 

Carter'' s Dwarf Crimson or IncomparaUe Dwarf Bed ot 
some, is similar to the Incomparable White, but difleriug 
from it in color, the leaf stalks being of a rosy crimson 
color. 

CELERIAC. 

Is a variety of celery producing roots resembling a tur- 
nip or kolil-rabi. The time of sowing the seed and its 
early culture is the same as celery, but it is grown in level 
surface beds, and not in trenches, like the celery from the 
nursery or seed beds. The soil should be well manured, 
and the plants set out at the same time as celery, in rows 
eighteen inches apart and six inches between the plants. 
When planted out, all suckers or side shoots should be re- 
moved, and, from time to time, during its growth in the 
permanent bed, they should be looketl over for the same 
purpose. 

Keep the soil well stirred between the plants, and in dry 
weather water freely, so as to keep them in a constantly 
growing state. When their growth is nearly completed, 
they should receive a slight earthing up with the hoe, so as 
to somewhat blanch the roots, and render them more tender 
and succulent. 

Some persons protect it in winter as directed for celery, 
others cut the tops off and store them in pits like potatoes, 
or in boxes of damp sand or earth in a dry cellar. It is a 
much hardier plant than the common celery. 

It is used as a root salad by shcing the roots and serving 
them with vinegar and oil, by stewing them like turnips 
and serving them with drawn butter, and shcing and put- 
ting them into soups for flavoring purposes. It is a very 
desirable addition to our list of winter vegetables. 

There are three varieties named in the seed catalogues, 
but the ordiuarv sort is the best of them. 



C REBVIL-CHIC C BY, 81 

f' 

CHERVIL. 

Of this vegetcable there are two species, botanically 
speaking; one grown to he used as parsley for garnishing; 
the other known as the Turnip-rooted Chervil, grown for 
its roots, which resem1>le an early horn carrot in size and 
shape, the flesh being white and mealy, having somewhat 
the flavor of a sweet potato. 

The species grown for its leaves is known as Curled- 
leaved Chervil. The seed should be thinly sown in May, in 
drills half an inch deep and twelve inches apart. It requires 
a good rich soil. The leaves are used for garnishing, for 
putting in salads and for flavoring soups. 

Th® Turnip-rooted Chervil is of recent introduction, and 
is as hardy as the parsnip, its culture being the same. The 
seeds germinate but slowly in hot, dry weather; they should 
therefore be sown as early in the spring as the ground is in 
good working order. 



CHICCORY 



The leaves of this plant are used as a salad, and the 
roots as a substitute for, or to adulterate, coflee. 

It makes a most excellent winter salad when blanched, 
and is very easily grown, much resembhng endive. The 
seeds should be sown in May, in drills three-quarters of an 
inch deep and about fifteen inches apart. The soil should 
be rich, mellow and well trenched twelve or more inches 
deep. When the young plants are two or three inches 
high, they should be thinned out to eight inches apart. The 
soil should be kept frequently stirred and clear of weeds. 

Before being used as a salad the leaves must be blanched, 
which is done by inverting boxes or flower-pots over them 



82 CHIVES. 

about twelve inclics deep, or hy placing boards, nailed 
together at right angles thus y\, over the rovrs. When 
wanted for winter use, the plauts are to bo taken up lato 
in the fall and planted thickly in a box filled with sand or 
light earth, and then placed ia a cool cellar, watering them 
after planthig. When wanted for use, a box full of them 
.should be placed iu a dark room w^herc the temperature 
will bo from 50^ to CO"^; or they may bo placed in the 
kitchen, and another box, such as a soap box, inverted 
over them. They will soon start into growth, and afford 
a supply of blanched leaves for salading purposes. After the 
leaves are cut off, the roots arc of no further use and may be 
thrown away,bringing another box full to supply their place. 

This vegetable is not ]uuch used iu this country, but is 
largely used iu England, and to a greater extent iu Hol- 
land and Belgium, as it is so readily grown. 

There are five or six varieties grown in Europe; the 
Largc-rootcd, ox Coffee Chiecor//, or the Mttgdebourg, aro 
generally preferred as being the most luxuriant in growth 
and the most productive. 



CHIVES. 

This is a well-known species of the onion family. The 
leaves arc the principal parts used, })ruicipally for flavor- 
ing soups, as an ingredient iu spriug salads, and for flavor- 
ing oiuelets. 

It is very hardy, and will grow in almost any soil. It is 
propagated by cUvision of the roots, as it seldom, if ever, 
produces seeds. The bulbs, two or three together, should 
be set out in May iu rows lifteeu or eighteen inches apart, 
the tufts twelve inches apart on the row. To have them 
young and tender, the plants should l)c frequently cut 
down, so as to iusme a young growth for use. 



COLE W BT—G BN. 83 

COLEWORT. 

The true Colewort or CoUards is qoito distinct from the 
ordinary cabbage, but is now supposed to be lost to garden 
cultivation. Its place has been supplied by sowing the 
.seeds of early cabbage in drUls a foot apart and half an 
inch deep, thinning them out to six or eight inches apart, 
and keeping up a succession by sowings at intervals of 
two weeks, from the last of April to the last of June, for 
summer use, and in September for autumn use. 

The young plants, when six or eight inches high, are 
used as spinach. 

CORN. 

For garden purposes the most suitable sorts to grow are 
those known as ''Sweet." They may be either grown in 
hills or in rows. When in the former they should be placed 
three or four feet apart each way. When grown in rows 
they should bo about four feet apart, and the seeds should 
be planted eight or nine inches apart on the rows. The 
proper time for planting is from the middle of May until 
the middle of July, planting at intervals of two weeks, to 
have a succession of green ears. 

Corn requires a light soil, and should be well manured to 
insure large ears ; keep the soil well hoed, and hill up the 
plants well. 

Barling's Earl// is an early productive variety, of rather 
dwarf habit, so that the hills may be three feet apart one 
way and only two and a half feet the other ; or the drills 
may be three feet apart. 

Burr's Mammoth is a larger growing, later sort than the 
preceding. It is a twelve to sixteen rowed variety. It is 
hardy and productive. 



84 CEE SS—C U C U M B E R. 

CRESS, 

This is an early spring salad, used citlier alone, or mixed 
with lettuce and other salad plants to make them piquant. 

It should be sown as early in the spring as the ground 
is in working order. Sow thickly in driUs six or eight 
inches a]jart, making successive sowings at intervals of a 
week or ten days apart. Cut it for use when three or four 
inches high. 

There are six or eight varieties, hut the curled-leaved is 
the most useful, as it can he used for garnishing as well as 
for salads. 



CUCUMBER, 

Cucumbers require a very rich, warm, moist soil to grow 
them well. 

To forward them and have them early, the seeds should 
be sown iu small Hower-pots, one seed in each, from the 
first to the 15th of April, aud then placed in a cool frame, 
keepiug the sashes close and protecting them with cover- 
iugs if the nights arc cool, until the seeds come up, which 
will be in five or sis days. After sowing the seeds they 
should be watered Avith milk-warm water, cold water 
having a tendency to rot them by chilling the soil. After 
the seeds come up, air should be given every sunny day 
from nmo o'clock in the morning until three or four o'clock 
in the afternoon, by tilting the sashes or drawing them 
down three or four inches. 

In three or four weeks' time, or when they have two or 
three rough leaves, the plants will be ready for transi)lant- 
ing out-of-doors, in hills four to six fe3t apart each way, 
putting three plants in a hill. Each hill should have one 
or two shovelfuls of well-rotted manure, well incorporated 



CUCUMBER. 85 

with the soil. Another mode of forwarding them is to cut 
sods two or three inches thick and four to six inches square, 
and placing them, grass side down, side by side in tlie 
frame. On each sod x»laco three or four cucumber seeds, 
and cover them with half an inch of light, rich soil, sifted 
fine, and watering as before. Their after treatment is the 
same as that of those started in pots. In transplanting 
them to the hills, bury the sod about half an inch deei^er 
than the soil with which the seeds were overlaid. 

In either mode of starting them, they should be watered 
and partially shaded for a day or two after being trans- 
planted to the hills. If the weather should be very dry, 
the hills should occasionally be liberally watered, choosing 
the evening for doing so. 

If protecting boxes can be had, then the seeds may be 
sown at once in the hills and a box placed over each, 
treating them the same as to airing and watering as though 
they were in a frame. By either of these modes the plants 
will escape being devoured by the striped bug. 

Outdoor sowing shoidd be done from the first to the 
15th of May, sowing about twenty seeds in a hill and 
covering them half an inch deep with soil. When such of 
them as may have escaped the attacks of the bug have de- 
veloped three or four rough leaves, pull up all but three or 
fom' in each hih. Where protectors are used against the 
ravages of the bug, it will not be necessary to sow more 
than six or eight seeds in a hill. 

Pickling cucumbers in garden culture should be grown 
in hills six feet apart each way and weU manured with de- 
composed manure. The seed should be sown from the 
middle of June to the middle of July, seeding liberally as 
before, to make up for the ravages of the bug. As soon as 
the cucumbers are of suitable size for pickhng, the bods 



86 BAND ELI ON. 

shoul.l ho gone over every day ox two to gather thein, as 
wbeu left to grow largo tlie plants arc not so productive. 

There are numerous varieties of the cucumber, l)ut the 
following are the best for family use : 

Whitc-spined; it grows from six to eight inches long, is 
of good flavor, crisp and tender. It is very productive and 
does not soon tiu-n yellow ; it is also a good variety for 
pickling when very small pickles are not wanted. 

Long Green Turlieij. This variety grows from fifteen to 
eighteen inches long. It is slender and has but few seeds, 
and is very well suited for serving on the table unsliced. 
It is very productive, of excellent flavor, crisp and firm. 
On account of its having but few seeds, it is an excellent 
sort for large iiickles. 

Sliort Green or Gherlin; is mostly used for pickling; it 
is hardy, productive and well flavored. There is a sort 
known as UnderwoocVs Short Prieliy, which is said to be 
an improvement upon the original variety in being more 
crisp and solid. 

DANDELION, 

This plant, now so common in our fields and gardens, 
was originally introduced from Europe, and in its indigen- 
ous state in this country is an escape from om* gardens. 

When cultivated in good rich garden soil it makes 
admirable spring greens, and when blanched, a salad 
resembling endive. The seed should be sown in May or 
June, in good rich deep soil. Sow in drills half an inch 
deep, and twelve or fifteen inches apart, and in July thin 
out the plants to three or four inches apart. The follow- 
ing spring they will be fit for use. "When wanted as a 
salad, blanch the heads as directed for endive. 

As it is an early as well as a most healthful vegetable, it 
is again coming into use. 



EGG -Fl ANT. 87 

EGG PLANT. 

The seeds of this plant require a considerable amount of 
heat to cause them to vegetate freely— heuce they should 
be sown m a hot-bed aliout the end of March or the begm- 
ning of April, keeping the sashes on and covering them 
at night until the young plants show themselves ; then a 
little air may be given in the middle of the day if bright 
and warm. K a hot-bed cannot be had, some seeds may 
be sown in flower-pots, and started on the inside sill of a 
sunny window of the kitchen or other warm room. 

When the plants are two or three inches high, they 
should be pricked out into small pots, one plant in each, 
replaced in the frame, and watered and shaded for three 
or four days, until they make new roots. About the first 
week in June they may be turned out of the pots and 
planted in the open ground, in a warm sheltered border, 
at a distance of two and a half to three feet apart each 
way. The soil cannot be made too rich for them. When 
they are about a foot high, draw the earth up to them, as 
m hilling any other vegetables. 

One or two dozen plants will produce enough of fruit fur 
a small family. 

The best two sorts are the New York Improved and the 
Black Pekin. The first is distinguished from the other 
purple varieties, in being more stocky and robust in 
growth, and in having the stems aud leaves thickly set 
with spines. It is also more productive than the others. 

The Blacli Pekin has very dark pui-ple, almost black 
fruit, of a globular shape, large and very solid. It is some- 
what earlier than the first named sort and very productive. 

The white, striped and scarlet varieties are not worth 
cultivating in the kitchen garden, being only serviceable 
as ornamental plants. 



88 ENDIVE 

ENDIVE. 

Endive, like lettuce, is a salad plant that can bo had all 
throiigli tlie summer and autumn ; but as the early sown 
crop JR hable to run to seed, owing to the heat of our sum- 
mers, it is generally grown as an autumn salad. 

There arc two distinct classes of it cultivated, of each 
of which there are also several varieties. The one is liuowu 
as Carl-leaved Endive by the English, and by the French 
is called Chicoree des Jardins, and, with its varieties, has 
curled or frizzled leaves. The other class, with its varie- 
ties, is known as Batavian Endive by the Euglish, and by 
the French is called Scarolle. It has broad smooth leaves. 

If early crops should be desired, the seed may be sown 
at the same time as early lettuce, and the plants set out 
and cultivated in the same way. They require the same 
kind of soil as lettuce. For the autumn crop the seed 
should be sown iu June or July, and when the plants are 
three or four inches high, which will be in August or Sep- 
tember, they should be planted out in rows one foot apart 
each away. The Batavian sorts, having larger leaves than 
the curled-leaved sorts, wUl require to be planted fifteen 
inches apart each way. If the planting is not done in 
cloudy or moist weather, they should be watered when 
planted. The after cultivation is the same as lettuce. 

It is always blanched before it is used, as otherwise it 
has a bitter, unpleasant taste. There are three or four 
ways of doing this. When the root leaves of the p»lants 
have attained their full size, the leaves are to be gathered 
up, and tied together at their tips with a bit of twine or 
bast matting. The outer leaves thus tied up exclude the 
air and light, and thus blanch the interior leaves. They 
should be tied up when quite dry, for if wet the interior 
leaves wUl decay. 



FETTIC U S. 89 

Another mode is to invert a flower-pot over each plant, 
closing the hole in the bottom. A still better way is to lay 
a piece of flat board, ten or twelve inches square, over each 
plant ; or a plank or board of that width can be laid over 
as many plants on the row as its length will cover. As 
the crop is not all needed at once, only as many plants as 
are likely to be needed for three or four days' use should 
be blanched at one time. If the weather is warm, they 
will blanch in ten or twelve days, but as the season gets 
cooler it will require three or four weeks to finish the 
process. 

When wanted for winter use, tie up the leaves as before 
directed, before frost se.ts in, and then take up the plants 
carefully, with- a ball of earth to each, and set them out in 
boxes filled with light earth in a light warm cellar, water- 
ing them after planting, but being careful not to put any 
water on the leaves. They should be taken up when dry, 
all dead or decayed leaves removed, and the plants not 
allowed to touch each other in the boxes. In this way 
they may be kept until spring. 

The French and Germans have several sorts of endive, 
but with us the Green-curled among the Chicoree sorts, 
and the small Batavian among the Scarollcs, are the two 
best, both bleaching readily, and not being as bitter as 
some other varieties. 



FETTICUS. 

This vegetable is chiefly grown as a winter and early 
spring salad, although it is sometimes used boiled as greens 
or spinach. 

It requires a rich soil. The seed may be sown towards 
the end of August or the beginning of September in drills 
six or eight inches apart and half an inch deep, rolling 



90 GARLIC— GARDEN PATIENCE. 

tbem after sovrin^-. Whon tlio plants are well up, thin 
them out to three or four inches a[)art. Keep it well hoed 
and clear of weeds, and when severe weather sets in, give 
it a slight covering of straw or salt ha}^, as is done with 
spinach, removing it in March or April. 

It can also be sown early in the spring, as soon as the 
ground is in worldng order, and will be ready for use in 
six or eight weeks afterwards. 



GARLIC. 

The root of this plant is composed of numerous small 
bulbs, called ''cloves" or ''sets." It requires a light, rich 
soil. The cloves should be planted in April or May an 
inch deep, in rows twelve inches apart, and five or six 
inches apart on the rows. The soil should be kept loose 
and clear of weeds, and when the tops wither, which will 
bo some time in August, the bulbs will be fit to gather. 
They shoiUd be kept the same as onions. 



GARDEN PATIEl^CE. 

Tins x^lant, which is a species of dock, is seldom if ever 
grown as a vegetal)le in this country, but is used in the 
place of spinach in some parts of Europe, especially in 
Sweden, where they cut and boil the young, tender leaves, 
adding about a foiu'th part of sorrel to them, making an 
excellent dish. 

It is a hardy perennial, growing four to five feet high, 
and will grow in almost any soil. The seeds should be 
SDwn in April or May, in drills fifteen inches apart and an 
inch deep, and when the plants aie three or four inches 
high they should be thinned out to ton or twelve inches 



HO RS E- RADISR. 91 

apart. To make it produce large-sized leaves abundautly, 
the liower stems should be cut out as soou as they develop 
themselves. It may be cut for three or four years. 

The common Yellow Bock, which is a somewhat trouble- 
some weed, when treated in the same way also yields a 
very wholesome substitute for spinach or greens. 



HORSE-RADISH. 

As the long, tapering roots of this vegetable are the 
parts used, it is necessary, in order to have them in perfec- 
tion, to follow such a com'se of cultivation as wiU most fully 
develop them. To this end it is necessary that the soil 
should bo deep, rich and mellow. In a dry, gravelly soil, 
or a soil that has a hard, clayey subsoil, it does not do 
well. 

The old practice was to plant the crown of the roots in 
the spring or autumn in a deeply-trenched soil, and cidtivate 
it two years before taking the crop. When grown from the 
crowns they fork off into several small roots, which cannot 
in a single season attain a proper size for use, and aie 
liable to be hollow and otherwise imperfect. The modern 
mode of growing it is as follows : 

Early in the spring prepare a bed of any size deemed 
necessary, by trenching a piece of rich soil two feet deep, 
laying a good dressing of manui'e in the bottom of each 
trench, thgging it lightly into the bottom soil, but not mix- 
ing it with the soil above, as this induces the growth of 
numerous fibrous side roots. Line the bed out in rows two 
feet apart, and plant I'oot sets sixteen or eighteen inches 
apart on the row. These sets should be sound, sohd pieces 
of the roots from three-eighths to half an inch in diameter, 
cut from four to six inches long. With a dibble of suitable 



92 J ERUISALEM ARIICHOKE. 

diameter make holes at the distances iudicated above; 
into eacli of these holes drop a set, beinjc very careful to 
have the top end uppermost in the hole, the depth of which 
should he so proportioned to the length of the set as to 
permit the top end to be covered with soil not over an inch 
in depth. Press the soil closely and firmly to the set. 
The after cultivation simply consists in keeping it clear of 
weeds. 

In the months of November or December the roots will 
be ready for use, and should then be dug up, the loaves re- 
moved, and the roots packed away in boxes of moist earth 
iu a cellar, or kept with other vegetables in a preserv- 
ing pit. 

If a large supply is not wanted, a trench two feet wide 
and two feet deep, of any desired length, may be opened 
in any convenient part of the garden, well manured at the 
bottom, and planted along the centre with a single row of 
sets. 

JEEUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 

This plant is misnamed, as it is not an artichoke, but a 
species of sunflower with tuberous roots, which are the 
parts used for culinary purposes. Before the introduction 
of the potato it was iu common use, but is now but seldom 
cultivated. 

It requires the same kind of cultivation as the potato, 
and is propagated by cutting the tubers into sets with two 
eyes to each, keeping the ground loose by frequent hoeings. 
It is perfectly hardy, and in removing the crop, care should 
be had to gather all the tubers, for if left iu the ground, 
they will start into growth tha succeeding spring and 
become troublesome weeds. 

There are three or four varieties, differing mainly in the 
color of the skin of the tubers. 



KOHL-RABI—LEEK. 93 

KOHL-RABI, OE TURNIP-EOOTED CABBAGE. 

This vegetable belongs to the cabbage tribe, but the 
stem swells out, assiuning a globular form resembling a 
tui'nip, this being the edible part. 

It requires the same soil and treatment as the turnip, 
and as it does not bear ti-ansplanting well, it should always 
be raised from seeds sown in the bed where it is to be 
grown. The soil should be rich and mellow, so as to 
induce a rapid, quick growth, and so produce a tender, 
succulent bulb stalk, for such it really is, being simply an 
adpresscd, enlarged cabbage stem. 

The seed should be sown in this section during the 
month of June, but may be sown in May or July, accord- 
ing to latitude. It should be sown in rows eighteen inches 
apart, and after the plants have come up, they should be 
thinned out to ten or twelve inches apart. The after cul- 
tivation consists in keeping the beds well hned aud clear 
of weeds. The proper time for using the bulbs is when 
they are three or four inches in diameter. 

There are seven or eight varieties grown, but the best 
for garden purposes is the Early Wliitc Vienna. Of this 
there is a purple variety, but it only differs from the first 
in color. 



LEEK 

The soil for this vegetable can scarcely be made too rich 
and mellow, or kept too mellow. 

The seed should be sown in a seed bed in good rich soil, 
in a sheltered situation, towards the end of March or early 
in April, in drills an inch deep and eight to ten inches 
apart. The beds should be kept scrupulously clean of 



9i LETTUCE. 

weeds and well worked. In June oi- July they should be 
transplanted into the permanent bed, the rows being one 
foot apart, and the plants six inches apart on the rows. 
This bed should be well spaded to a depth of ten or twelve 
inches. Great care should be taken not to injure the roots, 
and the plants should be set with a large blunt dibble, or 
in an open trench v.ith a spade. After the plants have 
taken root, the beds should be kept vrell hoed and free 
from weeds. 

If the leeks are wanted in a blanched state, they may be 
I^ianted in trenches four inches deep, and the earth gradu- 
ally drawn into the trench as the plants progress in growth. 

In this section they are generally dug up in November, 
planted in trenches, and protected as celery is. 

There are eight or ten varieties in the seed catalogues, 
but the sorts most generally grown are the London Flag 
and the Miissclhiirgh, preferably the latter. The Large 
Rouen is a favorite French sort that attains a great size. 



LETTUCE. 

The numerous varieties of lettuce may be divided into 
two classes — those that arc hardy, or comparatively so, 
suitable for winter use, and those that arc tender, and only 
suitable for summer use. 

The hardy sorts may be sown from the first to the mid- 
dle of September in an open border of rich soil, sowing 
thinly in drills six inches apart and one-qiiartcr ot an inch 
deep. In about a month or six weeks they will be large 
enough to transplant into a cold frame, putting them about 
two inches apart each way. When cold weather sets in, 
the sashes are to lie put on tiie frames, and during the 
winter all the attention they will require is to give them 



LETTUCE. 95 

plenty of air on bright clays, with a Hght covering of straw, 
old carpet or matting when the weather is very severe — as, 
Avheu the thermometer indicates twelve or fifteen degrees 
of frost. They are as hardy as cabbage plants, but if not 
kept well aked, they become more suscejjtible to the cold 
and are less robust. 

In the month of March, or as soon as the ground is in 
working order, these XDlants may be transplanted into a 
good rich warm border, and will be fit to cut for use in 
May. They shoiUd be planted in rows, twelve inches apart 
each way. 

As early cabbages are planted at the same time, it is the 
custom of some of our market gardeners to set them two 
feet apart on the row, and set a lettuce plant midway be- 
tween each, which becomes fit to use long before the cab- 
bage grows large enough to interfere with it; by this 
means nuich room and some labor is saved. 

Another mode is to sow the seed very thinly in a dry, 
warm, sheltered bed, leaving it out all winter, but protect- 
ing it with leaves or a sprinkling of straw when frost sets 
in. Some persons sow a sprinkling of seed along with 
autumn-sown spinach, but it repays the trouble to trans- 
plant them into frames, as above directed. 

The tender or summer lettuce should be sown in a cold 
frame in February or March, being careful to keep the 
frame well covered up at night, but airing it well during 
the day, to prevent the plants being drawn up. These 
plants will be ready to set out in April or May, or when 
they are about two inches high. 

The soil for lettuce can scarcely be too rich, for to have 
it in its greatest perfection it must be grown rapidly. The 
soil should be well hoed every two weeks after phinting, as 
lettuce thrives best in soil that is frequently stirred and 
kept open. 



96 LETTUCE. 

Lettuce can be fonvardecl or had very early in the sea- 
sou by setting out the young plants in February or March, 
seveu or eight inches apart, in a cold frame, the soil hav- 
ing two or three inches deep of rotted manure dug into it. 
The frame should be well covered up at night, and air 
given during the middle of the day, increasing the airing 
as the season progresses. Care must be had to water them 
frequently with tepid water, so that they may be kept in a 
constantly growing state. 

When wanted very early, in the form of leaf lettuce, it 
may be sown rather thickly broadcast in a hot-bed in Feb- 
ruary. When the leaves are from three to four inches high 
it will be fit to cut. 

The best hardy sorts for winter frames, are the 

Early Simpson; a variety of the curled Silesia. It does 
not form a close, compact head, but is very tender, of ex- 
cellent quality, and very early. 

Tennis Ball ; this variety forms a close, hard head of 
rather small size. It is very hardy, and slow in going to 
seed. 

Hammersmith Hard//; this is the hardiest sort cul- 
tivated. The leaves are very succulent, the heads small. 
It soon runs to seed in wnrm weather. 

Green Winter Cabbage is also a very hardy sort, does 
not run to seed readily, and forms a firm, sohd, medium- 
sized head. 

For summer use the best are the Large India ; it has a 
very large, somewhat loose head, is very crisp and tender, 
and withstands heat and dry weather admirably. 

Neapolitan has a very large, round, hard, close head, and 
is very slow in running to seed. 

There is a class of lettuces known as Coss Lettuces, 
which have long, straight leaves, that require to be tied 



MAETYNIA — MEL0N8. 97 

up over the head to blanch it. They are much esteemed in 
Europe, but in our own climate quiclily run to seed. Tboy 
shoultl therefore be set out very early in the season, but 
are not sufficiently hardy to winter over. Of the many 
varieties grown abroad, the Paris Green Coss does the best 
in this chmatc. 

MARTYNIA. 

The long, horn-shaped seed-pods of this plant are used 
for pickling when in their young, green state, and by 
many persons are preferred to cucumbers. The seed 
should be sown in an open border in April or May, and in 
June should be transplanted into the permanent bed at a 
distance of two or two and a half feet apart each way. 

It will thrive in any good garden soil, but does not need 
to be heavily manured. 



MELONS. 



The cultivation of the melon is in all respects the same 
as that of the cucumber, only that they should not be 
planted less than six feet apart each way. If the growth 
is very luxuriant, the ends of the leading shoots should bo 
pinched off, in order to check the growth and make the 
ftuit set better. The fruit also should be thinned out if 
too many set — it increases the size and flavor ; and four or 
live fruits to a plant are as many as should be allowed to 
remain. When the fruit becomes as large as a goose egg, 
it is well to put a shingle, a slate or some similar material 
under each, as it somewhat hastens their maturity, and 
renders them better flavored. An occasional watering of 
guano water has a tendency to increase the size of the fruit. 



98 MU!S BROOMS. 

Of the two classes of melons — namely, the yellow-lleshed 
or Cantaloupes, and the yieen-llcshcd or Musk Melons— 
we consider the latter as the only class worth cultivating 
in this country. The varieties are very numerous, hut the 
following two are fully equal to any of the others. 

Skilliitan's Netted is of comparatively small size ; it is 
early, very sugary, melting and high flavored ; it is also a 
compact grower. 

Green Citron is of large size, very sugary, juicy, and of 
dehcious flavor. It hears a,hundantly and is comparatively 
hardy. 

MTJSEROOMS. 

The cultivation of this delicious esculent is not often 
attempted by amateur gardeners. The old system of cul- 
tivation involved a great deal of trouble, and had not a 
little of a certain kind of mystery, hut of late years the 
French, who grow large quantities of them, have greatly 
simplified the process. One of their modes is the foUowiug, 
by which any person having a warm, dry cellai', and a sup- 
ply of fresh horse manure, can ohtain a liberal supply: 

In an open shed, or in any place ])rotectetl from heavy 
rains, ordinary fresh horse manure, free from rubbish or 
long straw, is to bo laid up in beds of tv,o or more feet 
thick, pi-essiug it down with the fork as it is laid up, aud 
when finished treadmg it down firmly vrith the feet. It 
should then bo thoroughly watered and again trodden 
down, and left to ferment for eight or ten days. At the 
expiration of this time it must be turned over with the 
fork and made again into a similar bed, care being taken 
that the outsides of the i)revious bed should form the 
centre of the new bed. In another ten days or a fortnight 
it will be ready for use. Tubs are then to be provided. 



MUSHROOMS. 99 

whicli may be done by sa\.'mg flour barrels in halves cross- 
wise, and boring foiu* or five half inch boles in the bottom 
of each for drainage. Fill the tubs two or three iiiclies 
deep with any good fresh garden soil, and add the prepaicd 
manure until the tub is hah' full. Place six or seven pieces 
of spawn, each about the size of a hen's egg, upon the 
manure in each tub, and fill the tub full of manure, pressing 
it weU down and rounding off the top dome-shaped. The 
spawn, which may be obtained of any of our seedsmen, 
comes in the shape and size of common bricks. At the 
end of ten days, if the spawn have taken — which may be 
known by its developing white, thread-like filaments — 
cover it with an inch or two of fresh soil screened through 
a coarse sieve. 

The tubs, when made up, should bo placed in a dark cel- 
lar, free from draughts of cold air, iu which the tempera- 
ture can be kept as nearly as possible at 50 degrees. The 
main points to bo attended to arc that tho temperature of 
the manure is at its proper height (about 7G degrees Fahr.) 
when the spawn is inserted, and that it should not bo 
covered with soil imtil tho spawn is well developed. Should 
the soil and manure in the tubs become dry, they should be 
watered by sprinkling them with water at about blood-heat 
or 100 degrees. 

In a few days tho mushrooms will show themselves. 
They should bo gathered every other day, l)y breaking tsff 
in the son — a shght twist with the hand facilitating this 
operation. Never use a knifo to gather them, and fill up 
with fresh soil any hole that may be made iu pulling them. 
They wUl continue yielding for three or four weeks; and a 
SGoond but smaller crop can be obtained after the first is 
gathered, by giving another dressing of fresh soil about 
half an inch thick, beating it down moderately with the 
spado and "Tatering it with blood-warm water. 



100 M U S TAB D — X A ST U 11 TI U 21. 

MUSTARD. 

Of tlie two species of cultivated mustard, tlae wliite is 
tliat generally grown for garden purposes. The young 
plants, when about three inches high, are nsed as a salad, 
-like cress, on account of their piquancy, and the seeds arc 
used in pickles, to wliich they impart a pungent, pleasant 
flavor. 

When grown for salading purposes, the seeds should 1)0 
thickly sown in the open ground as early iu the spring as 
the season -will permit, in drills six inches apart and half 
an inch deep. If wanted earlier they may be sown in a 
frame. A succession may be kept up by sowing every 
week or ten days. 

When grown for the seeds, sow early in the spiing, in 
rows about fifteen inches apart. The seed should be quite 
thinly sown, so that the plants will not choke each other; 
the new crop will be ready to gather by August. 

Any good garden soil will suit it. 



NASTURTIUM. 

The unripe succulent seed-pods of this well-known plant 
arc used for pickling, l)eing an excellent substitute for 
capers. Any good garden soil suits it ; if it is compara- 
tively poor it will be for the better, as the plant has a ten- 
dency to run to growth at the expense of tloweriug and 
fruiting freely. 

The seeds should be sown iu May, in drills three feet 
apart, and about six inches apart on the row. The plants 
should have pea-brush set to them when they are about six 
inches high, on which they may climb. This preserves the 
green seed-pods from the sand or soil, and from rotting. 



NEW ZEALAND fl P I X A C n— O K U A . 101 

The podd should be gatliered when of the size of a small 
pea ; if left ou the plant too long the seed within them be- 
comes hardened, which renders them imfit for use. Some- 
times the young shoots are used as a salad alone, or for 
mixing with lettuce. 

The best variety for kitchen garden purposes is the com- 
mon Dwarf. 

NEW ZEALAIJD SPINACH. 

This is not really a spinach, but its leaves are used in the 
same way. It is very useful for this purpose, as it grows 
freely, and flourishes under the heat of our summer's sun. 

It requires a rich, moist, well-pulverized soil. The seeds 
may be sown in the open ground from April to July, in 
drills three feet apart and two inches deep. The plants 
should be about a foot apart on the row. In inve or six 
weeks after sowing the gathering of the leaves for use may 
be commenced, taking care not to injure the ends of the 
young shoots. The gathering may be continued until frost, 
as the leaves retain their succulence through the summer. 

If the ^veather should be very dry, give the plants plenty 
of water. 

Fifteen or twenty plants will supply a large family. 



OKRA. 

The unripe seed-pods of this plant, known in the South 
as Gumbo, are used shced up to thicken soups and similar 
dishes, to which they also impart a rich flavor. 

It thrives in any good garden soil. The seed should be 
sown in May, in drills an inch deep and two feet apart, two 
or three seeds being dropped together every foot of dis- 
tance ou the row. After the plants have grown beyond the 



102 OXIOX. 

seed loaf, thin them nut to single plants. Earth them up 
8ii:4hQy two or three times duriug their growth. 

The Bicarf variety, growing from two to two and a half 
fet^t high, is hest adapted for our northern climate; the 
Tall or Giant sort, growaug five or six feet high, taking up 
too much room in our gardens. 

The pods, transversely sliced and dried when green, may 
bo kept for winter use. 



ONION. 

Onions require a rich, finely-pulverized soil, in order to 
grow them to perfection. The ground should he pi'epared 
as early in the spring as possible, by heavily mauuring it 
with well-rotted manure, digging and pulverizing the soil as 
finely as possible. Composted poultry manure, fine ground 
buue-dust or soot, sown in the drills and then covered with 
an inch or two of soil, arc excellent manures for this vege- 
table. A top dressing of wood ashes after the plauts are 
well up also assists their growth materially. 

The seed should be sown from the first to the 15th of 
April, in drills one inch dec]) and one foot apart ; a light 
roller should be run along each drill as soon as the seed is 
covered in. When the plauts are well up, the ground 
should be well hoed, and the plants thinned out to two or 
three inches apart. The hoeing should be repeated two 
or three times, but discontinued after the bulbs begin to 
set, as it is then injurious to them. If weeds should then 
malic their appearance, they must be removed by hand. 

When the tops wither, which is generally in August, the 
bulbs should be pulled up and left on the ground exposed 
to the sun and air for two or thi'ee weeks, in order to well 
dry them off; after which they must be kept in a cool, dry 
cellar, but free from frost. 



ONI OS. 103 

If it is desired to have green onious very early in the 
spring, the seed should be sown in August or early iu 
Soptemher, and the young onions protected on the approach 
of cold weather by having some long htter thrown over 
them along the rows. 

Another mode of raising them is from sets. These are 
raised by sowing the seed, in April, very thickly, in drills 
nine inches apart, in a piece of poor or unmauured soil, 
for if the bulbs get any larger than a hazel nut they will 
be -^'ery apt to run to seed when planted out for the main 
crop. In August, when ripe, they should be taken up and 
well dried, after which they should be placed, with their 
chaff skins on, on the floor of a garret or hay-loft, covering 
them, when cold weather sets in, with six or eight inches 
of hay or straw. They wiU keep, thus i^rotected, until 
spring. In April of the ensuing spring they are to bo 
planted in a piece of very rich soil in rows twelve inches 
apart; a bulb being pressed into the ground with tho 
thumb and forefinger every three inches on the row, and 
then rolled with a hght roller to set them still more firmly. 
The beds should be kept clean between tho rows by 
occasional hoeing; but all weeds gi-owing between tho 
hulbs, or within three or four inches of them on the rows, 
should be removed by hand. 

The sets from top onions aro treated in the same way. 
They are raised by planting the full grown bulbs, in tho 
spring, in rows fifteen inches apart, and the bulbs ten 
inches apart. During the summer they will throw up 
stems, producing a cluster of ten or twelve small bulbs, 
instead of a head of flowo!-s and seeds. These sets are to 
be preserved over winter in the same way as sets raised 
from seeds, and planted and treated the ensuing season in 
the same wav. 



101 O KI X . 

The potato onion increases by division of the root. Small 
huibs arc generally planted early in the spring in rieh soil, 
in rows a foot a|)art, the bulbs being set six inches apart on 
the row. They should be inserted just deep enough in the 
soil to cover the crown, and should be firmly set in the 
groimd. As they grow, they split up or divide into six or 
eight good-sized bulbs. They may be planted in Septem- 
ber, and. on the approach of winter covered with a slight 
covering of long manure, litter or leaves, removing the 
covering as soon as spring commences. They give a 
larger crop when planted in the autumn than when i)lanted 
in the spring. 

There are numerous varieties of the onion ; but the se- 
lection of sorts for our climate may bo restricted to three, 
excluding top and potato onions. 

The Wethersficld Large Red 'v- ver.y productive and an 
er.c client keeper, but strong llavoi-ed. 

The YcUow 0)iio!i, misnamed the Silver Sldmied in New 
England, is much milder and sweeter flavored than the 
Large Bed. It is very productive and a good keeper. 
There is a sub-variety of this, known as the Banvers Ycl- 
hnc; it is exceedingly productive, but is not as good a 
keeper. 

The White Portugal, or Silver Skinned, has a i)ure whito 
skin, with the upper part of the bulb veined with green. 
It is very mild flavored and productive, but is not a good 
keeper, unless the bulbs are exi)osed to light in a dry, airy 
place free from frost. It is largely used for pickling, for 
this purpose beiiig grown as dii-ected for sowing sets, only 
not sowing the seed over half an inch deep; this ])i-events 
the l>ulbs ha\ing thick necks, and makes them more solid 
and coniijact. 

or the top onion there are two varieties, the red and the 



OEACBE, or FUEXCH sriXACH—FAESLEY. 105 

white. The flesh is coarser than the seed-bearing sorts, 
and the bidbs are not as good keepers, unless ke^jt very 
dry and cool. 

There is but one variety of the top onicn. It is mild, 
sweet flavored and of excellent quality. To facilitate its 
keeping well, two or three inches of the steui should be left 
on each bulb. 

Where, owing to the effects of climate or the persistent 
attacks of insects, onions cannot be successfully raised from 
seed, recourse must be had to sets — especially the potato 
onion. 



ORACHE, OR FRENCH SPINACH. 

This vegetable requires a rich, deep, moist soil. The 
leaves and tender stalks have a pleasant, slightly acid 
taste, and are cooked and used in the same manner as 
spinach. The cultivation is also the same. There are 
several varieties, varying chiefly in the color of the leaves, 
which; however, all turn green when boiled. Unless used 
when young and tender, the leaves are apt to be tough and 
stringy. 



PARSLEY. 

Parsley requires a rich mellow soil to grow it in perfec- 
tion, and as the seed vegetates slowly, especially in hot, 
dry weather, it is important to sow it as early as possible in 
April. The soil should be deep and finely pidverized, and 
the seed sown in drills a fo(jt apart, and from hah an 
inch to an inch in depth. It is a good practice to sow a 
light sprinkling of radish seed with it, as it vegetates 
quickly, thus marking out the rows to faciUtato ^vceding• 
and keeping the ground open. 



I'Jt) r A j: .vx r Y. 

After tbe pliiuts are about tliree inches high, thiu tiiem 
out to six or eight iuches apart, and keep them clean by 
frequeut hoeings. 

To have it for winter use, cut off all the old leaves in the 
mouth of September; the plants will then make a new 
growth of leaves. Some of these roots should be taken up 
e;irly in November, and plauted in a cold frame or in boxes 
t.) 1)0 placed in a light dry cellar; the remainder may lie 
lei"t in the rows, out-of-doors, protecting the plants with a 
light sprinkling of straw. Thus treated they will be fit for 
use in the spring before the new sowings are ready to use. 

Some gardeners sow the seed iu a cold frame in April, 
between the rows of early lettuce, and let it remain there 
during the succeeding summer and winter, cutting it off, as 
before, early in September. This method saves the trouble 
of transplanting it. 

The best sort for general use is the Divarf Curled. When 
quantities are used for garnishing, and something very ele- 
gant is desired fir this purpose, the 3Ioss or Fimhriated- 
Icaved may be sown. 

Another variety of parsley, with largo fleshy roots, known 
as the Hdinbnrgh or Turnip-rooted ParsJeu, is grown for 
the sake of its roots, which are used in soups, or as a sepa- 
rate dish, like carrots or parsnips. The seed should bo 
sown iu April or May in deep mellow soil, but not too rich, 
in rows fourteen or fifteen inches apart, thinning out the 
plants to six or eight inches apart, and treating them ai'ter- 
wards as carrots or parsnips. The roots should be taken 
up iu October, packed in sand or dry earth, and stored in 
a dry cellar for winter use. 

Still another variety, the Naples Pars>e>/, is grown for 
the same uses as celery. The seeds may be sown in a hot- 
bed in March, or in a seed bed iu the op'u air in May, 



PARSXIV. 107 

When the plants are four or five inches high they should 
he transplanted into good rich soil, in trenches two feet 
apart and six or eight inches deep, settmg the plants a foot 
apart. As the plants grow the trenches are to be gradually 
filled in to blanch it. To preserve it for winter use, treat 
it the same as directed for celery. 



PAESNIP. 

The parsnip requires a deep, rich soil, and preferably one 
that has been manured the previous autiunn. The seeds 
can be sown from the middle of March to the middle of 
May ; but as the roots require a long season to enable them 
to grow to a good size, the earlier the seed is sown, the 
bettei'. 

The drills should be about an inch deep and fourteen to 
fifteen inches apart, sowing the seeds quite thickly. When 
grown as a field crop, the rows should be twenty inches 
apart, so that they can be readily worked with a cultivator 
or horse hoe. When the plants are about three inches 
high, they should be thinned out to six or eight inches 
apart. The after culture consists in Iceeping them entirely 
free from weeds by frequent hoeings. 

As the parsnip is quite hardy, such portion of the crop 
as may not be wanted for winter use may be left out in 
the ground all winter. Those that are wanted for winter 
use should be taken up late in the autumn, and stored 
away in the some manner as carrots or turnips. As the 
roots descend to a great depth into the soil, great care is 
nccessa--Y in taking them up, for if the roots ai'e broken 
off where they are of any thickness, they will lose much of 
their flavor and sweetness. 

The sorts generally grown arc the Dutch, the Guernsey 



108 P E A S . 

and the IloUow-croivncd ; they are very closoly alike, and 
appear to owe what little distinction tlierc may be between 
them to the dilierences of soil in which they may be grown. 
The IloUuw-croivned appears to have a somewhat shorter 
and stouter root than the others, and perhaps is to be pre- 
ferred on that account. Another variety, called the Student, 
is considered to be sweeter and milder flavored than the 
others. 



PEAS. 

Peas do best in light, warm soil, but will grow well in 
heavier soils if they are well drained. Well-rotted horse 
manure or fine bone-dust suits them best. It is preferable 
to apply the horse manm'C the autumn previous. Guano is 
also an excellent manm-e for them, when sown in the drills 
at the rate of a pint to twenty feet of row, stirring it well 
lid ) the soil for a couple of inches in the bottom of the 
drill. 

The sowing of i)eas may be commenced in March, or as 
soon as the ground is in working order. If only one or two 
sorts are grown, a succession can be had by making sow- 
ingo at intervals of twelve or fourteen days. But if several 
sorts, varying iu their time of maturity, are sown at the 
same time, a regular succession can be had iu that way. 
There are various ways of growing them— as in ridges, 
drills, single or double rows, and with or without sticks or 
brush. For piivatc gardens, double rows hi drills are gen- 
erally adopted in this country, using or not using sticks, 
according to the character of the vaiiety sown. 

The double rows should be from eighteen inches to four 
feet apart, according to the height of the variety, the 
general ride being to malie the distances eiiual to the 



PEAS. 109 

height to which it grows. The two drills composing the 
double row should be eight or nine inches apart, and about 
three inches deep, the peas being sown from half an inch 
to an inch apart on the row ; the early, small-seeded varie- 
ties being sown closer than the larger-seeded, tall-growing 
varieties. Some of the English growers sow them in long 
single rows, twenty or more feet apart, and not in a suc- 
cession of rows, as they hnd that the outside rows, when 
planted in the ordinary way, always bear more profusely 
than the inside rows. They also stop or pinch off the lead- 
ing shoots when the plants are about hah the height to 
which they usually attain, repeating the operation for two 
or three times after the shoot has made three joints of 
growth. This renders the plants more stocky, and makes 
them produce much larger crops, but also has the effect of 
retarding the crop, as the plants do not set their pods 
freely until the stopping ceases. 

When the plants are from four to six inches high, they 
should be earthed up, drawing the earth up lightly on each 
side, in such a way as to have the plants standing in a 
slight channel along the ridge. When the varieties grown 
are such as to require staking, this operation should be dnno 
before the plants have grown tall enough to fall over. The 
brush stake should be set along the middle of the ridge be- 
tween the two rows of plants, and outside of them on each 
side a shorter row of brush. Where brush is not easily oh- 
tained, stakes may be cbiven in, five or six feet apart, and 
lines of twine of any kind, six inches apart, may be fasten- 
ed to the stakes; but brush is the best when it can be bad. 

If the weather is very hot and dry, mildew is apt to 
attack the plants and destroy the crop. To destroy the 
mildew, dredging the foliage with flour of sulphur is the 
best remedy. To prevent it, water the rows copiously 



110 PEAS. 

witli water, preferably that in which guano has been dis- 
solved iu the proportion of three half pints to twenty-hve 
gallons of water. 

The varieties of peas are very numerous, new sorts being 
originated and introduced every year; few of them, how- 
ever, hold their place in the catalogues for many years. 
They may be divided into two classes— the smooth-seeded, 
and the wrinkled. The first comprise as yet the earhesfc 
varieties ; but none of them are as large, sweet and high 
flavored as the wrinkled sorts. Other things being equal, 
the smooth-seeded are scarcely worth growing, when the 
wrinkled sorts can be had. At present, of the sorts most 
highly recommended in the catalogues, the following sorts 
may be selected as the best early varieties : 

Cartcfs First Croj:) ; a very early and productive va- 
riety, gi'owing two and a half feet high. A smooth pea. 

Daniel OBourlx ; very early and productive; grows 
three feet high, and is the sort generally grown for the 
early New York market. Also a smooth pea. 

Laxtoji's A]2)ha ; an extra early variety of its kind. 
It 13 a blue, wrinkled marrow pea. very productive, and of 
excellent quality. Grows three feet high. 

McLean'' s Little Gem ; is an early, dwarf, gi'een, wrin- 
kled marrow pea, growing only a foot high. It is very 
productive and of excellent flavor. 

McLean^ s Blue Peter ; is also an early, blue, wrinkled 
pea, prolific, of fine flavor, and growing a foot high. 

McLean's Advance ; is a wrinkled pea growing about 
two feet high. It is nearly as early as the O'Bourke, and 
rich flavored. 

Later varieties : 

Champion of England; one of the best and most popular 
of the wrinkled peas, being Inrgely grown for the New 



PEP TEES OB CAPSICUMS. HI 

York market. It is very productive aud liiyh flavored • 
growing five feet liigli. 

Vcitch's Perfection ; is a n'ch flavored marrow pea, verv 
productive, aud one of tlie best for main or late crops. 
Height, four feet. 

Ulue Imperial ; au old variety of good flavor and yields 
abundantly. It is very hardy and thrives m almost any 
soil; it also withstands the heat better than any other 
variety. Height, three feet. 



PEPPERS OR CAPSICUMS. 

These are generally grown in our gardens for the pur- 
pose of pickling in their green or half ripe state. 

A light sandy soil suits them best, but fair crops can be 
obtained upon almost any soil, if it is well manured aud 
kept well stirred with the hoe. The seeds may be sown in 
drills half an inch deep and six inches apart, in a hot-bed, 
about the first week in April, or in pots or boxes in a 
kitchen window, as directed for egg-plants; or they may 
be sown in a warm border early in May. When the plants 
arc two inches high, they should be planted out in rows two 
feet apart, and from fifteen to eighteen inches apart on the 
row. If the fruit is not vranted early in the season, the 
seed may be sown in the open ground where they are to 
remain, towards the end of May, in drills two feet npart and 
half an inch deep, dropping three or four seeds at the dis- 
tance apart the plants are to stand, and when they are au 
inch or two hi-xh pulling up all but one plant. 

The after culture consists in deep hoeings of the groimd 
and keeping it clear of weeds. 

There are five or six sorts generally grown. 

The Bell or BuU Nose is- a large, early, sweet and pleas- 



112 niYTOLACCA. 

aut flavored variety, witli loss puugeucy tliaii sonic of the 
otbcr sorts. It cau readily be j^n-own by sowiug the seeds iu 
tbe open ground in May. A sort known iu tbe seed cata- 
logues as tbo Sweet 3Iountain appears to bo identical with 
this. 

Cherry Pepper is a small, round-fruited, very iiun';ent 
variety. It rcjquires to be raised in a bot-l>ed. Tliert; is 
also a yellow-fruited variety of this sort. 

Long Bed is a long-fruited sort, freciuently used pulver- 
ized, as a substitute for the cayenuc pepper of commerce. 
It should be raised iu a hot-bed. There is also a yellow- 
fruited variety of this sort. 

Squash Pepper ; this sort is largely grown for market 
I)urposes, l)emg of large size, and, when correct to name, 
very thick-fleshed. It is rather more pungent than tbe 
Bell or the Sweet Spanish. It can be grown by sowing the 
seed iu the open air iu May. 

Sweet Spanish is a large-fruited sort, and veiy early. It 
is sweet, mild and i)leasant flavored, with scarcely any pun- 
gency, and on that account is preferred by many porsoug. 
It succeeds well sown in the opeu ground iu May. 



PHYTOLACCA. 



This is well known throughout the country as "Garget," 
"Poke-beiry" and "Pigeon-berry,"' and is a common weed 
by road-sides, waste places and on newly burned pine- 
lands. It is, however, an excellent substitute for aspara- 
gus, which it resembles in taste. The young shoots, as 
they appear iu the spring, before the leaves develop, are 
the parts used. 

The size and quality of the shoots are much improved 



POTATO. 113 

by cultivation, especially if they are blauched iu tbc same 
way as is directed for sea-kale. 

The berries and roots are reputed to bave medicinal if 
not poisonous qualities, but the young shoots are not so. 

It should be grown in rich deep soU, the plants being 
set about twelve or iifteen inches apart. 



POTATO. 

The potato' dehghts iu a dry, hght, loamy soil, preferably 
a fresh pasture land with the sod turned under the 
autumn previous to planting. In stiff, clayey soils, es- 
pecially if they have been long under cultivation, they are 
very liable to disease, to be of inferior quahty and lacking 
in productiveness. 

In fresh lands they do not require much manure, and in 
any soils dry or absorbent manures arc tbo be^t. Such 
as fine ground bone, superphosphate of li:ne, ashes, horn 
shavings and comb-makei-s' waste. "When these cannot 
be had, well-rotted manm-e, sea-weed or decayed loavei 
may be used. Fresh, strong, stimulating manures should 
always be avoided; but whatever manure is used, it should 
be spread evenly over the ground, and well plowed in, and 
not put into the drills or hills, a,3 is generally the practice. 
Whatever manure is used, it is best to apply it to the soil 
and plow it in the autumn previous to planting. 

There has been much discussion as to whether it is best 
to plant cut sets or small whole tubers, but good crops 
have been and can be raised by either method, provided 
always that the sets are cut from well ripened potatoes, or 
that the small tubers are well ripened. This cannot be too 
much insisted upon ; if, m eitlier case, they are not thor- 
oughly ripened, the crop wUl be reduced in yield and veiy 



J14 POTATO. 

lialile to disease. Do not, from a mistaken economy, re- 
serve for sale or table use the largest and best potatoes 
and save the poorest for planting; if you do, the future 
crop will certainly be inferior both in quality and quantity ; 
but, on the contrary, save the best for your next season's 
planting. 

When sets are used, cut or divide the potato so that two 
eyes shall be on each set, and spread them out on a door, 
not exi)osed to the direct rays of the sun, to diy, for three 
or four tlays or a week. 

For the very early crop, the sets or tubers may bo 
planted as early in April as the ground is in a dry, friable 
state; the succession and mnin crops may be planted at 
any time np to the middle of June. For garden purposes, 
drills are preferable to hills ; the drills being from two and 
a half to three feet apart, and in dry, light soils five or six 
inches deep. In very heavy or wet soils they should only 
1)0 half this depth. Some cultivators having such soils 
plant the sets on the surface and draw the earth over them. 
The sets should be planted from eight to ten inches apart 
on the row. As soon as the plants come up the soil should 
bo hoed, and as the plants continue to grow, up to the 
time of their coming into flower, they should receive two 
or three earthings up, so as to cause them to make plenty 
of side roots, as on the extremities of these the tubers are 
formed. After they commence to bloom, no further culti- 
vation is necessary, except to pull up any tall weeds that 
may show themselves. 

The varieties of the potato can be counted by the hun- 
dred. Until the past few years we were mainly dependent 
upon English cultivators for new varieties, few of which 
succeeded well in our cliinnto. Our own cultivators have, 
howevci-, turned their at'tLUiiou to originating new sorts, 



PUMPKIN-BADISH. 115 

and ■with such success as to compete with the English cul- 
tivators on their own soil, with varieties comLiuing qual- 
ity and productiveness. So rapidly does this improveracut 
progress, that it is difficult to keep the run of the new 
sorts ottered for sale. Of those introduced within the past 
eight years the following deserve especial notice : 

Early Rose has retained its position as combining more 
good quahties than any other early potato. As a later sort, 
the Snoivflake promises to he among late potatoes what the 
Early Hose is among early ones. Among the latest varie- 
ties that has come out is the Alpha, and said to be ten or 
fifteen days earlier than the Early Eose. It is dwarf-gi-ow- 
ing, and therefore well adapted to garden culture. Extra 
Early Vermont, Peerless, BroivnelVs Beauty, Comptoti's 
Surprise and Late Base are also excellent varieties. 



PUMPKIN. 

The pumpkin is now seldom cultivated as a garden crop, 
being entirely superseded as a culinary vegetable ])y some 
of the late varieties of squashes, which are superior to it in 
flavor, sweetness and tenderness of flesh. Their cultivation 
is similar in all respects to that of winter squashes. 



RADISH. 

To have radishes in perfection, they should be grown in 
a light rich soil, so as to induce a rapid growth, which in- 
creases their flavor, and renders them crisp and free from 
stringiness. They can be grown on heavy soils, but are 
then generally inferior to those grown on light soil. 

As they are generally ready to pull for use six weeks 
after they are sown, they may be sown broadcast, or in in- 



116 EADISff. 

tormediate rows between beets, cabbages, early cauliflow- 
ers, onions or lettuce, without at all interfering with or 
producing any injury to the main crop. 

Where a regular bed of them is required, a warm, shel- 
tered border may be prepared by manuring, digging and 
well-pulverizing the soil about the middle of March, or as 
soon thereafter as the weather permits, and sowing some 
Scarlet Short Top or Tiirnip-rooted Eadish seed, either 
broadcast or in drills about three-quarters of an inch deep 
and six or eight inches apart. If sown broadcast, the seed 
should be evenly raked in. To keep up a succession, make 
sowings at intervals of ten days or a fortnight up to the 
middle of May. If they are wanted after this, what are 
known as summer varieties should be sown up to the mid- 
dle of August. After that, until the first of October, the 
autumn sorts should be sown, either in separate beds or 
in the spaces between other vegetables sown during the 
late summer or early autunui. 

If wanted very early, they may be readily grown iu 
frames, sowing the seed about the middle of February, and 
protecting the fi-ames from frost at night by suitable cov- 
erings, giving plenty of air in the middle of the day and 
watering sparingly. The turnip-rooted sorts arc best for 
growing in frames, as they bulb quickly. 

The sorts most generally grown for spring use are the 
Long Scarlet Short Toj), the Bed and the White Ta rep- 
roofed, and the Scarlet Olive-shaped, the latter being very 
early and crisp, and to be preferred for the first crop. For 
summer use, the Graif and the Yellow Turnip-rooted should 
be used. They should be used before attaining their full 
sizo ; they are best when not exceeding an mch in diam- 
eter. For winter use, the Black Spanish, the White Span- 
ish, and the Bosc-colorcd Chinese are the l)est ; but they 



n H LB AR B . 117 

are not generally eaten out of hand, being usually sliced, 
and served with vinegar and oil as a root salad. Tbeso 
winter varieties can be preserved for winter use by gather- 
ing them before frost sets in, cutting otf the tojjs, and 
packing the roots in boxes filled with earth or sand, and 
kept in a cellar free from frost. Before using them, they 
should be soaked in water for an hour or two, in order to 
restore their crispness. 

Another species of radish has of late years come into use. 
It is known as the Bat-taUcd Eadish, from the appearance 
of the long seed-pods, which are used for pickling. The 
pods, when full-grown, are from two to three feet long, 
but are used when only half grown, tender and succuleut. 
They make a very pleasant, agreeable pickle ; they may 
also be eaten in a raw state, and are excellent stewed or 
boiled. 



RHUBARB. 



The rhubarb of our gardens is grown for the leaf stalks, 
which are used instead of gooseberries for pies, tarts and 
other culinary pm-poses. 

It requires a very deep, rich soil, and can scarcely be too 
liic^hly manured or too'deeply cultivated. It is propagated 
cither from seeds or from division of the roots. The seeds 
should be sown in good rich soil, in April, in drills an inch 
deep and a foot apart, thinning out the plants, when three 
or four inches high, to eight or nine inches apart. The en- 
suing autumn or spring they may be planted out into a 
permanent bed, which has been trenched two feet deep 
and very highly manured; the plants being set three feet 
apart each way. When propagated from established roots, 
they may be divided, reserving one or more eyes to each 



118 i? 77 u n A n B. 

division, either in the autumn or in the spring, and plant- 
ing;' them in the same way as seedling plants. The after 
culture con:;ists in keeping the bed clear of weeds, forking 
In a top dressing of manure every spring, and cutting olf 
the flower stems as they appear. If these are x^ermitted to 
grow, they weaken the plant and reduce the size of the 
leaves and leaf stalks. For the same reason no leaves 
should bo gathered the first year and only a few the second 
year; after that the crop may bo more freely gathered. 
In gathering the loaves, they should be pulled ofl* vertically, 
and not cut or broken off, as the part left rots and injures 
the crown of the plant. 

Rhubarb may be forwarded and had much earlier in the 
season, by j)lacing over each plant, in February or March, 
an empty barrel, and surrounding it with a bed of leaves or 
long manure two or three feet thick. By this process the 
stems arc blanched, and become very crisp and tender, but 
lose their flavor to some extent. It scarcely repays the 
tj-oiible of doing it, except in having an out-of-season 
luxury. 

For family use the large, coarse-growing sorts are not 
as desirable as those which are of smaller growth, but 
higher flavor, and more tender and succulent. The fol- 
lowing two varieties are the only ones we recommend for 
private gardens : 

MyaWs Linnccus; is an early, medium-sized variety, of 
fine flavor, and, comparatively with many other sorts, of 
less acidity. 

Early Prince Imperial; is an early medium-sized variety 
of high flavor; it turns red in cooking, becoming as red as 
currant Jelly, which makes it very desirable for stewing. 
This is probably the Prince Albert of some growers. It 
is grown about Boston chiefl\'. 



J? O C J M n O LE—R UT A -B J (i A. 119 

The outer skin of both these varieties is so thin find deU- 
cate, that it is not necessary to remove it iu prei)arinu;- it 
for cooking. 



ROCAMBOLE. 

This is a vegetable of the onion family, resembhng garlic, 
but having smaller bulbs; it is milder and sweeter fla- 
vored than garlic. 

It is very hardy, and is increased either by seeds, by sep- 
aration of the bulbs, or by the rocamboles, or small bulbs 
produced upon the flower stem of the plant. The seeds 
may bo sown and treated the same as onions. The sets or 
cloves of the bulb are cultivated m the same way as shal- 
lots, described in another place. 



RUTA-BAGA. 

The ruta-baga, or Swedish turnip, is not really a turnip, 
but belongs to a difl'erent species of the Brassica family. 
It is analogous to the kohl-rabi, only that the root, and 
not the steui, is developed into a large fleshy bulb. 

It requires a deep, rich, mellow soil, which should be 
well pulverized before sowing the seed. It delights in a 
fresh soil, but when manured should have well-rotted 
manure or flue ground bone. When grown for farming pur- 
poses it is sown about the middle of May, but when grown 
for table use, it may be sown any time during the moulh 
of July, as it is not necessary to have as large roots for the 
kitchen as for stock-feeding, and, besides, the later sown 
and smaller roots are more succulent and tender. 

The drills Should be fifteen or sixteen inches apart and 
half an inch deep. When the plants are in their second or 
third leaf, they should be thinned out by the hoe to ten or 



120 ^' AL^I F y O n O Y S TER PLANT. 

twelve inches apart, giving the soil between the rows a 
good stii'iing at the same time, repeating it five or six 
weeks afterwards, or as often as may be necessary to keep 
dovvn the weeds. 

As the seed germinates very quickly, and is very liable 
to he eaten off by the turnip iiy, the drills, after the seeds 
arc covered in, should be well dusted with soot, lime, or to- 
bacco dust, mixed with an equal quantity of dry ashes, 
I'epeating the dusting every morning and evening for a 
week ; a peck a day would sufSce for an acre of ground. 

There are numerous varieties of the ruta-baga, but the 
sort best adapted in this country for garden cultivation is 
the Imnroved American. 



SALSIFY OE OYSTER PLANT. 

Salsify is sometimes called oyster plant, from a fancied 
resemblance of the flavor of the root, when cooked, to that 
of cooked oysters. The roots are white, and resemble 
small carrots in size and shape. 

It requires a good mellow, rich soil, well pulverized to 
a depth of fourteen or fifteen inches. The seeds should he 
sown in April or May, in drills au inch deep and twelve to 
fourteen inches apart. When the plants are two or three 
inches high, they should be thinned out to six inches apart. 
The after cultivation is the same as that for parsnips. 
As the seed does not ripen evenly, much of it does not 
vegetate; it is therefore necessary to sow it somewhat 
thickly. 

Salsify is quite hardy, and can therefore be left in the 
ground all winter, but to have a supply during the winter, 
a sufficient quantity should be taken up late in the autumn, 
and stored in moist sand or earth in a dry, cool cellar. 



SCOLYMUS—SCOIiZONEBA. 121 

The young shoots from plants that have been left out 
all winter, as they shoot up ua the spring, are sometimes 
cut and used as asparagus, Tvhich they somewhat resemble 
in flavor ; but the roots are the part chiefly used for cuhu- 
ary purposes. 

There is a popular notion that this vegetable is peculiarly 
suited for consumptive persons ; but whether it is correct 
or not, we are unable to say. The notion probably arises 
from the resemblance of its flavor to that of oysters, they 
being frequently recommended as an article of diet to per- 
sons suffering from that disease. 



SCOLYMUS. 

This vegetable resembles the salsify, and by some is 
called the Spanish Oyster Plant. It requires the same soil 
and cultivation as the salsify. 

The roots are considered to be very healthful and nutri- 
tious, and also are very delicate and pleasant flavored. 
This vegetable, scorzonera and salsify are not as much cul- 
tivated as they ought to be, as they furnish a very agree- 
able variety to our stock of winter vegetables, and, withal, 
are of very easy culture. 



SCOEZONERA. 

The roots of this plant closely resemble salsify, but are 
black on the outside and somewhat smaller. The cultiva- 
tion is the same as that of salsify or carrots. 

The outer black rind of the roots should be scraped oiT, 
and the roots soaked in water for two or three hours before 
cooking them, in order to extract an unpleasant, bitter 
taste which they otherwise would have. They are then 
much like salsify in flavor. 



122 SEA-EALE. 

SEA-KALE. 

This delicious vegetal)le is not much jjrown in this coun- 
try, but is well worth cultivation. It cau be grown eiiuer 
from cuttings of the roots or from seeds. 

It hkes a deep sandy loam, highly manured and well 
trenched, as its roots i>enetrate deeply into the soil. The 
seeds may be sown either in October or early in the spring, 
in hills two feet apart in row and three feet between the 
rows. Sow six or eight seeds an inch and a half or two 
inches deep in each hill, and when the plants are well up, 
thin them out to three or four m each. When grown from 
cuttings of the roots, cut up some old roots into pieces 
three or four inches long, and plant, in March or April, 
three or four inches deep, in hUls, as directed for those 
grown from seeds. They may also be grown in rows three 
feet apart, and the plants set eighteen inches apart on the 
row\ In this case it is well to sow the seeds or plant the 
cuttings in a nursery 1)ed, setting them, or thinning them 
out to six or eight inches apart, and transplanting them 
the following spring. 

In the autumn, when the leaves have decayed, the plants 
should have a covering, four to six inches thick, of manure, 
leaves or sea-weed ; this protects them from the bad effects 
of freezing and thawing, and causes them to start earlier 
in the spring. When the frost is out of the ground, this 
may be taken off, or, if rotten enough, may be forked in. 
The plants are then to be covered to a depth of ten or 
tv.-clve inches with sand, peat or some similar material, to 
blanch the shoots as they grow. Some invert large gar- 
den pots over the plants and blanch them in that way. In 
three or four weeks after this is done the shoots will prob- 
ably he fit to cut ; but this should uut be done until they 



SHALLOT. 123 

are four or five inches in lenglli. The cutting may be con- 
tiuiied until the flower heads form, and these may be used 
as broccoh after they have made some growth iu the open 
air, when they form a small head resembling a broccoh or 
a cauliflower. 

The cutting should not bo too close, especially for the 
first year or two, as it has a tendency to weaken the plants. 
It is well to only blanch every other row each year, in 
order that the plants may have an opportunity to recuper- 
ate, for strong roots can only be had by strong, healthy 
foliage. To the same end, the plants should never bo 
allowed to go to seed. Sea-kale, like asparagus, is a pea- 
shore plant — hence a top dressing of salt, as directed foi- the 
latter vegetable, is of service to it. 

There are no varieties of it. 



SHALLOT. 



The shallot is a species of onion, the root of which is 
composed of uimierous small bulbs, united at their base 
and covered with a thin skin. It is chiefly used in a greeu 
state, early in the spring. 

It thrives in any soil suitable for the onion, preferring, 
however, a light, warm soil. It is chiefly grown by divid- 
ing the bulbs and planting the oflsets. These should be 
planted with a dibble or trowel, in rows twelve inches 
apart, and four to six inches distant on the rows, the holes 
being two or three inches deep. When wanted for early 
spring use, they are planted towards the end of August or 
early in September, and are left in the open ground all 
winter. They may also be planted in April for later use. 
When the tops die ofl', the bulbs should be taken up, well 



lU s R n E L—s K I n n e t. 

dried; and kept in a warm, dry place; damp aud cold cause 
tliera to decay rapidly. 

There are live or six varieties, but none of them are bet- 
ter than the common sort. 



SORREL. 

Sorrel is used abroad, especially in Germany and France, 
as freely as spinach is with us. It is considered to be a 
very healthfid vegetable, of strong alterative powers, and 
of great service to those who live largely on salt provisions. 

The seed should be sown in April or May, in drills half 
an inch deep and tifteen to eighteen inches apart. The 
young [)lants should be thinned out to ten or twelve inches 
apart, aud by July or August the leaves will be fit to cut. 
When the flower stems show themselves, they should be 
cut out, so as to encourage the development of the leaves. 

The plant is perennial, and thrives in any good moist 
garden soil. In winter it is well to give it a hght protec- 
tion of strawy stable manure, forking it in early in the 
spring. 

There ai'e several varieties of it, l)ut the sort most general- 
ly esteemed in Paris is the Belleville, or Broad-leaved Sorrel. 



SKIRRET. 

This vegetable, though formerly much esteemed, is now 
not much cultivated, being superseded by salsify and scor- 
zonera, to which it is fully equal, if not superior. It has 
much the taste of a parsnip, and by many is preferred to 
it. The roots are the parts used ; they are of a russet color 
on the outside, and white within, and when well grown are 
six or eight inches long and about an inch in diameter. 

It succeeds best in a light, mellow, moist soil. The seeds, 
which sometimes take four or five weeks to vegetate, 



S FIX ACS. 125 

should bo sown early in April, in drills a foot apart and aa 
inch deep. The plants should be thinned out to live or six 
inches apart. The after culture is the same as for salsify. 
In September or October the roots will be fit for use. 
Those required for winter use should bo taken up before 
frost sets in, packed in sand, and kept in a cool, dry cellar. 
There are no varieties of it. 



SPINACH. 

Spinach, to be grown in perfection, requires a very highly 
manured soil, so as to make it develop large succulent 
leaves. It can be grown both as an early spring and a 
summer crop. When taken oft' m the spring, it leaves the 
soil in excellent condition, without any fm-ther manuring, 
for beets, carrots, parsnips or turnips. 

For spring use, the seed should be thinly sown from the 
first to the end of September, in well prepared soil, in drills 
an inch deep and a foot apart. When cold weather sets in 
it should have a slight covering of straw or salt hay, more 
to prevent the effects of freezing and thawing than to pro- 
tect it from frost, as it is quite hardy. For summer use 
the seed should be sown in March or April. Some garden- 
ers sow it between their rows of early cabbages, as it be- 
comes fit to cut in five or six weeks after being sown. To 
assist it in making a rapid growth it should be frequently 
hoed. 

If wanted during the winter, it may be cut on a mild 
day, sprinkled with water, put into a box or barrel, and 
placed in a cool but not freezing cellar. In this way it may 
be kept for ten days or a fortnight. 

There are several varieties, but the best two for private 
gardens are the Flanders and the Large Prickly-seeded. 
The first is very bushy and produces very large leaves ; 



126 S Q UA ,SR— S WE ET POTATO. 

tlic pLauts should be lliinued out to six or eight inches 
apart. The last, not producing such large leaves, should l)o 
thiuned out to four or five inches apart. It is also slower 
in running to seed than the Flanders. 



SaUASH. 

Squaslv seeds should be sown in May or June, in hills, as 
directed for cucumbers and melons, their after culture 
being the same. The bush sorts should be sown in hills 
three or four feet apart; the running sorts in hills six to 
ten feet apart, according to the nature of their growth. 
Five or six seeds should be sown in each hill, and care be 
had to keep off the striped bug; after the plants are past 
danger they may be thinned out to two or three plants in 
a hill. 

For early use the White and the Yelloiv ScaJlo]ied Bush 
varieties, with the Summer Bush crook-necked, are the 
best. For late summer, autumn and winter use, the Boston 
Merrotv, the Turban or Acorn, the Yokohama and the 
IluhJiard are the best, the latter keeping into the late 
spring. 

In keeping winter squashes, it is absolutely necessary 
that they should Tje kept from cold or dampness, and the 
flower end should never be set under, as they soon decay 
when this is not exposed to the air. 



SWEET POTATO. 

The sweet potato requires a light, warm, rich soil; in 
heavy soils it does not succeed. In this latitude it is i)rop- 
agatcd by planting the tubers, in April, in a moderate 
liot-])ed. The tubers, uncut, should be placed three or 
four inches apart, with two or three inches of sand or soil 
under theai, and covered with three inches of light, rich 



SWISS CHABD. 127 

soil. In nhout a month tliey will start into growth, and 
when the shoots or sprouts are about four inches long 
above the ground, they may be taken off and transplanted 
into the open ground. The tubers will throw up a suc- 
cession of shoots, so that three or four sets of them can bo 
had for planting. 

The sprouts may either be set out in ridges or in hills. 
In the former case, the rows should be four feet apart, and 
the plants twelve or fifteen inches apart on the row. When 
planted in hills, they should be four feet apart each way, 
allowing three plants to a hill, putting a shovelful of 
rotted maniu-e in each hill. The sprouts should be set one- 
third to one-half their entire length and watered when 
set out, continuing the watering occasionally if the weather 
io dry. They should be kept clear of weeds until the plants 
begin to cover the ground. 

A hot-bed, live feet sijuare, planted in April with tubers, 
will furnish enough of plants to yield twelve or fifteen 
bushels of potatoes. They may be set out towards the 
end of May or any time during the month of June. To 
preserve them in winter, they should be stored in boxes or 
barrels with sand, and kept in a warm, dry place; cold 
and damp cause them to decay. 

There are eight or nine varieties; but for cidtivation in 
our northern latitudes, the Kansemond, a yellow sort, and 
the Bed- skinned, are the best two. They are hardier and 
earher than most of the other sorts. 



SWISS CHARD. 

This is a species of beet, producing large, strong leaves 
with thick midribs, and suiall roots not useful for culinaiy 
purposes. The thin portions of the leaves, and the leaves 



128 TARRAGON— TOMATO. 

themselves, when young, are used as greens or spinach, 
and the midribs as asparagus. It ■withstands the heat of 
our summers, and is a a cry useM vegetable, not as much 
grown as it shoidd be. 

The soil should be tolerably rich, so as to encourage a 
quick, succulent growth. The seed may be sown any time 
in April or May, in drills eighteen inches apart and an 
inch and a half deep. When the plants are about three 
inches high, they should be thinned out to ten or twelve 
inches apart, and treated hke the common red beet. 

There are five or six sorts, but the best is the Silver- 
leaved, or true Swiss Chard. 



TAHEAGON. 

Tarragon is a hardy X)erennial plant, grown chiefly for 
its leaves and the tips of the young shoots, which are 
chiefly irsed for flavoring stews, soups, salads, pickles and 
vinegar. As it seldom produces seeds, it is generally prop- 
agated by division of the roots. These should be set out 
in any good garden soil, in April, in rows fifteen inches 
apart, and the plants set ten or twelve inches apart on the 
row, covering the sets two or three inches deep. 

If seed can bo obtained, it should be sown in April or 
May, in a cold frame or in a nursery bod. Tlie drills should 
be six or eight inches apart, and vrhen the plants arc three 
or four iuches high they should be set out as directed for 
the rcjots. 

TOMATO. 

To have tomatoes early in the season, it is necessary to 
sow the seed In drills six iuches apart and half an inch 
deep, in a moderate hot-bed, early in the month of March. 
In four or five weeks the plants ruay be transplanted into 



a frame four to six inches apart, aud will then make nice, 
stocky plants for setting- out in the open ground about the 
middle of May. Where there is not the convenience of a 
hot-bed, the seeds may be sown in a box, covered v. ith a 
pane of glass, and set in a kitchen window ; these v. ill 
come forward nearly as fast as when sown in a hot-bed. 

For later use, the seeds may be sown in the open ground, 
in a warm, sheltered border, early in Alay, when the plants 
will be ready to transplant early in June. 

They should be planted in hills from three to four feet 
apart each way, a spadeful of well-rotted manure being 
mixed in each hill. Some persons train them on lath 
trellises, some stake them with pea-brush, aud others 
train them within hoops, all of which give an amount of 
trouble which the generality of people do not like to incur. 
In order to keep the fruit clean, to i^revent its rotting and 
to forward its ripouiug, it Ls necessary to keep it from 
laying in direct contact with the earth; this is easily done 
by laying around the hills a thickness of two or three 
inches of small twig brush, which will keep the fruit from 
the soil. When the plants are about a foot high, they 
should be earthed up. 

The varieties are very numerous, and every season one 
or more new sorts are introduced to pubUc notice as being 
superior to any that have preceded them, but not oiie in 
ten becomes a standard sort. The best early variety is the 
Earhj Smooth Bed; for the general crop the Trophy is the 
best ; for making catsup or preserving, we think highly of 
the Feejee, ov Lestefs Perfected, as it is very soUd, contains 
less fluid than any other sort, and is of most excellent 
flavor. It is quite a late sort. For pickling, the Pear- 
shaped and the Yelloiv Plum are the best. 

To get or keep an early yield of any variety of tomato, 
the first ripened fruits should be reserved for seed. 



130 irEXir—WATEJl-C BESS, 

TURNIP. 

To have early tumips, the seed slinuld be sown from 
early iu Ax)ril until the middle ot May, in drills half an 
inch deep and twelve to lifteeu inches apart, the plants 
i)eing tliinned out to six or eight inches apart. For the 
early crops the soil should be warui and light, but the late 
crops can be grown on heavj- soil, in either case the land 
mast be well manured. For the autumn crops, the seed can 
be so-nn from the end o{ July until the end of August. About 
a month after the plants are up they should be well hoed, 
and the operation repeated in three or four weeks after- 
wards, as this makes them grow rapidly. 

There are a great number of ■varieties of turnips, but f -r 
general use, both for an early crop as well as for a late 
crop, there is none equal to tlio Ucd-toi^ped Strap-leaved 
among the white-tieshed sorts, and the Golden Ball and 
the Yellow Finland among the yellow-tleshed sorts. 



WATEE-CRESS. 

Water-cress requires a clear running stream and a grav- 
elly soil. The roots should be planted in the spring of tho 
year in slow-running streams, where the water is from 
thi'ee to eight inches deep. When the roots are well es- 
tablished the plants will rapidly increase, and, by their 
natural process of seed -sowing and spreading of the roots, 
they will soon cover the surface of the stream. Wlien 
planted, the rows should be planted parallel with the 
course of the stream, about eighteen inches apart. Tho 
plants should always be cut, not broken off, as breaking 
them off is injurious to the plants. After they have been 
cut off two or three times, they will begin to stock out or 
t.bickon out, n^d tl-fn the nftenov tliey firf^ cut tho bettfir. 



WATEP.-MELON—POT HERBS. 131 

When raised from seeds they should be sown on the mar- 
gin of the stream, and when of suitable size transplanted 
into it, where it is an inch and a half or two inches deep. 
The most suitable time for sowing is in the mouths of April, 
May and June. 

There arc said to be three varieties of water-cress — 
namely: the Green-leaved, which is considered to be the 
easiest to cultivate; the Small Broivn-leaved, which i3 
thought to be the hardiest, and the Large Brown-leaved, 
which is said to be the best for deep water. 



WATER-MEL02ir. 

The water-melon succeeds best in light, sandy soils, 
heavy soils inducing too much leaf growth. The cultiva- 
tion is the same as that of the musk-melon, only that the 
hills should be at least eight feet apart each way, and only 
two plants in each hill. The seeds should not be sown un- 
til May, or until settled warm weather has set in. 

There are nunierous sorts, ot which the 3Iountain Sweet 
and the Black Spanish are the best for table use. The 
citron is grown exclusively for preserving purposes. 



POT HEEBS. 

In most garden books directions are given for the culti- 
vation of aromatic, pot, sweet and medicinal herbs. We 
shall, however, coMQne ourselves to pot herbs, or those 
grown exclusively for culinary uses. They are Stveet Basil, 
Sweet Fennel, Sweet Marjoram, Spear 3Iint, Sage, Summer 
Savor J/ and Broad -leaved Tlujme. 

They aH require the same general cultivntinn, which con- 
Bists in sowing the seeds, duiing April or May, in rich, mel- 



i'^Z POT Mi: P, Jig. 

Jow soil, in diills hall' an inch deep and a ibot apart. As 
the seeds of most of them are very small, the bed in which 
they are sown should be shaded until the plants come up 
and kept scrupulously clean of weeds. By the middle or 
f cud of June the plants will be fit to set out mto the perma- 
nent beds, in rows twelve to fifteen inches apart, and the 
plants eight to ten inches apart on the rows. 

All herbs should be gathered just before they begin to 
fiower, as then they have their flavor and aroma most highly 
developed. They should be tied in small bunches and 
dried in the shade under cover. 

In designating each herb above, wo have indicated which 
is the best variety of each. 



MONTHLY REMINDERS, 183 



MOKTHLY REMK^DERS, 



Januaet.— As this is the dead of winter, not much can 
be done in garden operations, except in preparation for the 
ensuing season. The collection of manure and its prej^a- 
ration should be attended to. It should always be kept 
well stacked up, and not allowed to be carelessly left loose, 
and so to become frozen. 

Air the cold frames whenever the weather permits. If 
they are covered with snow, it should be removed, unless 
the soil in the frame is frozen. If that is the case, they may 
remain covered up for two or three weeks without injury. 

Prepare pea-brush, etc., and see that your garden toola 
are in good order. 

Februaet. — Attend to the manure piles, turning them 
over once or twice to facilitate their decomposition. 

Make up hot-beds, and towards the end of the month 
sow in them cabbage, Ggg, plant, lettuce, peppers and 
tomato seeds. See that the cold frames are properly at- 
tended to. 

Broad beans and cabbage seed may be sown in cold 
frames— the latter when a hot-bed is not to be had. 

Repair sashes, frames, protection boxes, etc. 

Maech.— Hot-beds may still be made, and seeds of ten- 
der vegetables sown in them, as directed for last month. 
Plant wintered-over lettuce in cold frames, when it is de- 
sired to have them sooner than thpy ran be had in the open 
iiir. Kadishes, also, can be sown in cold frames for the 
same purpose. 



\'i4 HO S TJJ L Y K E M I .V !) K Jt S. 

If the ground should be in suitable condition, it may now 
be mamu'ed and spaded. Towards the end of the month, 
in warm, dry soils, sow cabbage, carrot, lettuce, celery for 
early crops, ra(Ushes, tui"nips, spinach, broad beans, leeks, 
beets and peas in a sheltered border. Plant horse-radish, 
rocambole, onion sets and chives. 

Make plantations of asparagus, rhubarb, sea-kale and 
artichokes. Top dress old beds of them with short maum-e, 
forking it in liglitly close to the plants. 

Eoots of carrots, beets, i^arsnips, onions and leeks, with 
cabbages and celery intended for seed, may be planted out 
towards the end of the month in dry, warm soils, but if the 
land is heavy or wet, defer it until next month. The 
crowns of these roots should be protected from frost by 
drawing some earth over them, and removing it in April. 

As the sun now begins to have some power, particular 
attention must be paid to the hot-beds and cold frames to 
prevent the plants scorching. Air must be freely given if 
the weather is spring-like, and some shading may be re- 
quired in the middle of the day. Water them if it is 
needed, using tepid water. 

April.— Plant asparagus, rhubarb, sea-kale and arti- 
chokes, if not done previously. Divide roots of tarragon, 
chives, and any perennial medicinal or sweet herbs. Plant 
out cabbage, caidiflower — protecting it — broad beans, 
horse-radish, onion sets, lettuce, Jerusalem artichoke, 
potatoes, and start sweet potatoes in a hot-bed. Plant 
out roots of esculents intended for seed raising. Sow beet, 
cabbage, onions, peas, radislies, spinach, lettuce, turnips, 
endive, cardoon, carrot, celery, cress, leeks, rhubarl), arti- 
choke, asparagus, mustard, nasturtium, salsify, scorzonera, 
sea-kale, skirrct, chervil, patience, kohl-i-abi, tomatoes, 
parsley and sweet herbs. Sow cucumbers and melons in 



fi'ames, and towards the eud of the mouth bush beuiib mdiI 
Indian coi'u out-of-doors. Hoe crops aU-eady planted, iu 
order to destroy the weeds, which now begin to germinate 
and start into growth. 

See that the hot-beds and cold frames are well aired, 
shaded if necessary, "watered and protected at night. 

May. — Thin out the early sown crops of beets, parsnips, 
carrots, etc. Transplant cabbage, lettuce, egg plants, 
tomatoes, peppers, etc., from the hot-beds, frames and 
warm border seed beds. The sowing of any seeds that 
were neglected last month should now be attended to 
without delay. 

Sow borecole, brussels sprouts, broccoh, cauliflov.er, 
cabbage, beans, endive, carrot, cress, cucumber, melon, 
water-melon, squash, nasturtium, martyuia, okra, peas, 
sweet corn, pumpkin, tomato, radish and sweet herbs. 
Plant potatoes, sweet potatoes, and any plants still remain- 
ing iu the frames or hot-beds. 

Water all newly transplanted plants at the time of trans- 
planting, and two or three times afterwards if the weather 
is dry, or until the plants are established. 

Keep the hoe going iu order to destroy the weeds, which 
will now begin to lie troublesome. 

June.— Early crops, such as lettuce, radishes, spmach, 
etc., when gathered, may be succeeded by late beets and 
carrots. Sow them, and also bush beans, cucumbers, en- 
dive, sweet corn, ptimpkin, squash and okra. Transplant 
cabbage and celery for summer use ; also leeks and car- 
doons ; and plant potatoes and sweet potatoes. 

Water early cauliflowers as they begin to head. 

Hoe and thin out ah standing crops. 

July.— Transplant cabbage,, cardoons, celery, endive, 



136 MO NTULX R E MIXD E It S. 

u'.oks, peppers, etc., for autuinn crops. Sow bush bcaus 
aud pole beans, cucumbers for pickliog, endive, kohl-rabi, 
summer radish, raia-baga, and, towards the end of the 
mouth, turnips. Potatoes may bo planted early in the 
Dionth. 
Sweet herbs should bo cut and dried this month. 

August. — Celery may be trauspiauied up to the 1.5th. 
Sow turnips, fetticus, bush beans lor pickhug, onion seed 
to stand the winter, lettuce for autumn use, and spinach 
for an early crop. Onions will be ripe this month, and 
should be pulled and dried. 

September.— The fall crops will now be growing rap- 
idly, and will require hoeing and other attention. From 
the 10th to the 20th bow cabbage, cauiiilower and lettuce 
seed for young plants to winter o\er in cold iVames. Shal- 
lots and ouions should be planted, aud spinach and German 
greens sown for next, spring's crop. Earth up such celery 
as may be wanted for next month. 

OcTOBEK.— Earth up celery, <lig np potatoes and other 
I'oots, as they mature, and >sti)re them a\\ay fur use. Col- 
lect squashes and pumpkins, and expose them, in a dry 
place, to a good airing, previous to stowmg them away. 
Blanch endive, hoe and weed out fetticus and spinach, 
plant out cabbage and lettuce plants in cold frames. 

November. — All vegetables not secured for storing away 
should now be attended to. Spinach, lettuce out-of-doors, 
fetticus and outdoor onions should be protected by cov- 
erings of straw, salt hay or cedar brush. Short horse dung 
i '■ best for the onions. Clenr up and dig all ground as the 
crop,'-; are t;.ke!i otT. as it piTA'cni- di'-]a> in commencing in 
tb-' spring. 

Put the sa.shos on such of the '"old frnrnp?; n-^ have been 



MONTHLY REMIX DEBS. 137 

filled with cabbage or lettuce plauts, giving air freely by 
tailing the sashes entirely oil' on sunny or mild days. 

Decembek. — Attend to the celery that ha^ been stored 
away in trenches for winter use ; cover it little by htllc. 
Protect spinach, onions, shallotS; kale, etc., that were sown 
in September, and cover rhubarb, sea-kale, asparagus, ar- 
tichokes, etc., with five or sis inches' thickness of long, 
coarse manure. 

Store away pea-brush, and other materials of the kind, 
from the weather. Commence to collect manure and to 
prepare compost heaps. Give air to the cold frames on 
suuny days. 



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Keading Book for Cl.isses. and aj; an Assistant to Teaeliers and Students iu 
|.ren,iring Exhibition.-. P>y Floyd B. 'Wilson, Frofes.sor of Elocution. Tlie 

C-iHoiini''-^ are em 111'!;, original. ' Pr.)iiT co\rr,<. Price .30 Cte- 

Boiuiil i.i hoard-, cloth back 60 ctS.. 



Popular Tiixki tent Frea of Postage at the Prices annexed. 

The Parlor Magician ; cr, Otic Hundred Tricka f-r the Drms^ 
ino-Room, containing an Extensive and Misoellancous Collection of Conjure 
insr and Letcerdcmain ; Sleights %vith Dice, Dominoes, Cards, Ribbcns, 
Bin^s, Fruit, Coin, Balls, Hiindkerchiefs, etc., ail of which may be per- 
tormed in the Parlor or Drawmp-Eocm, without the aid of nny apparatus ; 
also eml)racin<? a choice variety of Curious Deceptions, which may be per- 
tormed with the aid of simple apparatus; the whole illustrated and clearly 

explained with 121 engraving's. Taper Covers. Price 30 cts. 

Bound in boards, with cloth back 50 ^ts 

Book of Riddles and Fivo Hundred Homo Amusements. 

Concaining a Choice and Curious Collection of Riddles, Cliaradcs, Enigmas, 
Eebusjs, Anagi-ams, Transpositions, Conundrums, Amusiny Puzzles, (Jueer 
Sleig-hts, Recreatiansj in Arithmetic, Fireside Gaines and Natural Ma^ic, 
embracing Entoitainincf Amusements in Magnetism, Chemistry, Second 
Bipht and Simple Recreations in Science for Family and Siocial Pastime, il- 
lustrated with sixty Enaraviuss. Paper covers. Price ^0 ctS. 

Bound in boards, with cloth back 50 cts! 

Book of Fireside Games. Containing an Explanation of tho 
most Entertainin;;; Games suited to the Family Circle as a Recreation, such 
as Games of Action, Games which merely require attention. Games whicb 
require memory, Catch Games, which have lor their objects Tricks or Mysti- 
fication, Games in which an opportunity is afforded to display Gallantry, 
"Wit, or some slifrht knowledge of certain Sciences, Amusing Forleits, Fire- 
side Games for Winter Evening Amusement, etc. 

Paj)Gr covers. Price 30 cts- 

Boxind iu boards, with cloth back 50 cts. 

Barlor Theatricals ; or, Winter Evenings' Enkriainment. Con- 
taining Acting Proverbs. Dramatic Charades, Acting Charades, or Draw- 
ing-Roora Pantomimes, Musical Burlesques, Tableaux Vivants, etc.; with 
Instructions tor Amateurs ; how to Construct a Stage and Curtain ; how to 

fet up Costumes and Properties; on the "Making up" of Characters; 
Ixits and Entrances; how to aiTange Tableaux, etc. Illustrated with 

Engravings. Paper covers. Price 30 ctS. 

Bound iu boards, cloth back 50 cts. 

The Book of 500 Curious Puzzlas. Containing a largo col- 
lection of entertaining Paradoxes, Perplexing Deceptions in numbers, and 
Amusing Tricks in Geometry. By the author ot " The Sociable," ' The Se- 
cret Out," " The Magician's Own Book." Ilhistrated with a grei?,t variety 
of Engravings. This book comnianda a large sale. It will furnish fun anc' 

amiiscmpnt for a whole winter. Paper covei-s. Price , .30 ctS, 

Bound m boards, with cloth back 50 ctS, 

The above five books are compiled from the " Sociable " and " Magician's 

Own." 

The American Boys' Book of Sports and Games. A Reposi- 
tory of in and Out-Door Araur.ements for Boys and Youth. Illustrated 
with nearly 700 engravings, designed by White, Herrick, Weir and Havvi-v, 
and engraved by N. Orr. This is, unquestionably, the most attractive anil 
valua'nle book of its kmd ever issued in this or any other country. It l,aa 
been three years in preparation, and embraces all the sports and games tliafe 
tend to develop the physical constitution, improve the mind aud heart, and 
relieve the tedium cf leisure hours, both in the parlor and the field. The 
Engravings are all in the finest style of art, and embrace eight full-page 
ornamental titles, illustrating the several departments of the woik, beauti- 
fully printed on tinted paper. The book is issued in the best style, being 
printed on fine sized paper, and handsomely bound. Extra cloth, gilt side 

and back, extra gold. Price «3 50 

fatia cloth, full gilt edges, back and side , , , 54 00 



?opalar Books sent Free of Postage at th« Prices annezea. 
«IcEride's All Kinds of Dialog'iies. A Collection of Original 

Humorous and Buiucstic DialoguKS, lutroduciiig Tank«c, French, Irish, 
Dutcli, luid otlun- cliiiraeters. Excellently adupled lor Amateur pprt'orni. 
nncc. By JI. Elliott Mclinde. Tliis hook const itutfs a second series ol 
McBride's Comic Dialogues, andaH'ords an additional variety of the spirited 
dialosriies and stiort dramatic scenes contained in the latter book. Tiiey 
ore all entirely orif^-iual, and develop in a marked decree tlio eccentricities 
and pecuh.inties of the various ideal, but ccniiine, characters ^yldch aro 
represented in tlvra. Tliey are .^specinlly ndapti'd for School Eshibitions 
and all other ci'lebr.uions where the enecess oi the entertainment 18 partly 
or entirely dcpeinient on the ellbrts of the youn;'- folks. 7 

llluuunaied r,i|)L'i- Cover, Price 30 cts 

liound in jJoards 50 cts* 

Beecher's Recitations and Readings. Hnmorons. Serions, 

L*raniatic; includiuj; Pro^e and Poetical Selections in Dutch, French, Yan- 
kee, Irish, Backwoods, Kearo and other Dialects. Edited by Alvah U. 
Beecher. Tliis excellent selection has been compiled to meet a grou irj 
demand for Pnblio lieadinirs. and contains a nnniber of the favorite pieces 
tlKit have been rendered with tcUinp effect by the most popular Publio 
Keaders of the present time It includes, also, choice selections for Kccita- 
tion. and is. therefore, admirably adapted for use at Evcuiug- Entertain- 
ments. School Celebrations, and other Festival occasions. 

]tlra.). Ilium inited Paper Cover, I'rice 30 cts. 

Bound in Boui-ds 50 Cts. 

Day's Cards for Popping the Q,uestion. Au Orisinal Ganio 

for Lovers and Sweetliearts, or for ]il(rry.2ilakinpr in a Party of Young 
People. These cards are not only dolig-htfuUy useful to difddent lovers- 
enabling them to realize deferred hoj)CS. and cure aehin;^ hearts, but will 
make lots of fun and innocent amusement in a party of yoimg jieoplo, oftett 
resultiu.^ in earnest love passages begun in sport — iireventing shyness aiul 
ditiidence, and promoting that healthy and easy confidence between tha 
sexes so necessary in all social meetings. The" set consists of forty-twt> 
Cards, viz.: tuentr one questions, which nro mostly earnest declarations of 
love, ai d twenty-one answers, oi]ually pithy nntl to the point. ^Vs soon as 
these Cards become known we feel sure tliat tliey will have an cniUess sale. 
Put up in cases, i\iih direetious for playing. Price 30 Ct3, 

"Eed Turner's Circus Joke Book. A C(.ilcction of tho best 

Jokes, Bon Mot.s, BepaTtees, (iems of Wit, and Funny Savings and Doings 
of the celebrated Eipiestrian Clown and Ethiopian Comedian, Ked Turner. 
Arranged and compilfd by George E. Gowan. This book forms the third 
of the series by this vcrsatllo popular performer. I'rico 10 ctS. 

Chips from Uncle Sam's Jack-Knife. Illnstrated vrith ovnr 

inij Comical Engi-avings, and comprising a collection of over 500 Lr^ugha-: 
t»le Srories, Fnnny Advcntiire.s, Cnmic Poetry, Queer Connndmras, Ter| 
rifle I'uns, Witty S.ayings, Sublime Jokes and Sentimental Sentences. Thaj 
whole being a mo.st perfect portfolio for those who love to laugh. 
• Lai'ge octavo. Price 25 cts. 

Clarence Bolton. A Xcw York story, with city lifo in all its 
phases. Tliis is one of those fascinating tales of city lifo that gives an in- 
sight into every class of society. Price 25 Ct3. 

Grace "Weldon; or, Tlic Prctt;/ Milliner. This is a .'itory about 
the Sewing Girls of Boston. Full of fun .andadrentnre. Any person Tvh<» 
dcsiivs to read a lively story shoidd not f;il to get this work. 
Price..... ". 25 eta 



Popular Books Sent Free of Postag'e at the Prices annexed. '> 

Howard's Recitations, Comic, Serious and Pathetic. Beinc; a col- 
lection of fresh Recitations in Prose and Poetry, suitable ior Anniversaries, 
Exhibitions. Sociables and Evening Parties. 180 pages. IGmo. 
Paper Cover SOcts. Bound in Boards oOctS. 

Frost's New Book of DialoSfUes. Beinc; an entirely new and 
original series of Humorous Dialogues, designed for performance at School 
Anniversaries and Exhibitions. 180 pages. Paper Covers 30ctS. 

■ Bound in Boards SOctS, 

Frost's Dialogues for Youn^ Folks. A collection of Original, 

Moral and Humorous Dialogues, adapted to the use of School and Church 

Exhibitions, Family Gathfriugs and Juvenile Celebrations on all occasions. 
/ A ftjw of the Dialogues an' iong enc^ugh to form a sort of little drama that 
' will interest more advanced scholars, while short and easy ones abound for 

tho use of quite young children. Paper Cover 30ct3. 

Bound in Boards, with Cloth Backs, Side in Colors 50cl8. 

Frost's Humorous and Exhibition Dialoarues. This is a col- 
lection of Sprightly Original Dialogues, in Prose and Verse, intended to be 
spoken at School Exhib.tions. Some of the pieces are for boys, some for 
girls, while a number are designed to be used by both sexes. 180 pages. 
Paper Covers SUcts. Bound in Boards SOcts 

French Self-Tausrht. A new system on the most simple prin- 
ciples for Universal Self-Tuition, with English Pronunciation of every word. 
By Fbanz Thimm. I'rice 2dctS- 

German Self-Taught, Uniform with '^ French Self-Taught.' 
By Fbanz Thimm. Price 25ct£ 

Spanish Self-Ta,US:ht. Uniform ^itn " French Self-Taught' 
By Fbanz Thimm. Price 25cts. 

Italian Self-Taught. Uniform with "French Self-Taught." 
By Fbanz Thimm. Price 25cts. 

Franz Thimm's Modern Languages. Being the above four 

works bound together iu cloth, IGmo. Price SI. 50 

The Banio. and How to Play It. Containing, in addition to 
the Elementary Study, a choice collection of Polkas, Waltzes. Solos, Schoi- 
ti^iches, Songs, Hornpipes, Jigs, Reels. &c. ; with full explanations of both 
tiie "Banio" and "Guit.ir" styles of execution, and designed to impart a 
complete knowledge of the Art of Playing the Banjo practically, without the 
aid of a Teacher. By Frank Converse, author of the -'Banjo without a 
iMaster." ICmo. Bound ia Boards, with Cloth Back 50cts. 

Kow to Speak in Public ; or, the Art of Extempore Oratory. A. 
valuable manual for those who desire to become ready, off-hand speakers. 
lt;mo. Paper Cover 25cis, 

How to Shine in Society, or, the Scieiice of Conversation. Con- 
taining the principles, laws, and general usages of polite society. 16mo. 
Paper Cover 2dcta. 

The Athlete's Guide. A hand-book on Walking, Euuuing, and 
Rowing, giving full instructions for Training, and a Record of all the princi- 
pal events since the year 1773, with sketches of the lives of the most celebrs- 
ted Athletes. By W. E. Habdihg, Ex-Chami>i«n. 18mo, cloth. Price. 50cts 



Popular Books sent Free of Poitage at tho Piices annexed. 
Delisser's Horseman's Guide. Coinprisiup the Laws on War- 

rixHiy, aiiJ the Kiilcs in piirelinsiiig- ami selliiii;-IIorsfl.s, with tlic docisions iiiitl 
ri'puil^ of vaiious udiiris in Europe aial the riiitcd States ; to \\ hicli is added 
a dct.iiled account of what coiistituti; souiulaess and unsoundness, and a 
proeiso nietliod. simply laid down, for tlie csanunalion of horses, slKn\ ing 
tlieir ajio to tliirty years old ; togetlier with an exposure of ihe various iricliS 
and impositions pracliced by low horse-dealers (jockeys) on inexj)erienced 
persons ; also a valuable Table of eaeli and every bone in the structure of 
tlie Horse. Tlie entire matter carefully compiled from Twenty English, Five 
America!!. Six Frei!cl!, and Nine German Velerinaiy Authors, with tlie 
opi!iioiis of the compiler attached. By Ueorse 1'. Helisser, V. S. & L A., 
and late EsaminiiiiT Veteri!!ary Surgeo!i to tl!e Amcrica!i Society for the 

ricvei!tioii of Cruelty to AiiiuJals. Bouud in boards, cloth back Id Cts. 

Bound ill Cloth. I'lico $1,00. 

Howard's Book of Conundrums and Riddles. Containing 

over l.-IOO ^Vitty Connndrnms, Queer liiddles, I'ei-jjlesinjr Puzzles, Inpe- 
nious Eiiij;-iuas, Clever Charades, Curious Catches, and Amusing Sells, oi'igi- 
jial ami iiowly di-essed. This splendid coUcctiou id' cuiions paradoses 
will alford the material for a never-ending feast of fun and amusement. 
Any person, with the assistance of this book, may take the lead in enter- 
toinii'g a company and keeping them in roars of l.-nigliter for hou!'s to- 
getlier. It is an iuvaliiable eninpanion fnr a I'ic iiic or Summer Excursion 
of any kind, and is just the thini;- to make a lireside ciicle nienj on a long 
winter's evening. There is not a poor riddle in the book, the majority being 

fresh and of the highest order. I'aper cover. Price 30 Ct3. 

Bound in ))oards, cloth back. Price 50 Cts. 

Frost's Book of Tableaux and Shadow Pantomimes. 

Containing a choice collection of Tableaux or living Pictures, embracing 
Hoviiig Taldeanx, Mother Coosc Tableaux, paii-y Tale Tableaux Charade 
and Proverb 'Tableaix; togetlier with directions for airanging the .st.age, 
costuming the characters, and forming iipprop.riate groups. By iliss S. 
Annie Frost. To whicli is added a unmber vi' Shadow Acts and Panto- 
niiiues, with complete stage instriu'tions. 180 pages, paper cover. ..30 ctS. 
Bound in boards, cloth back 50 ctS. 

Laughing Gas. An Enoyclopa^dia of Wit, Wisdom, and 
Wind. Bv Sam Slick, Jr. Coiiiically illnstr.ated with 100 original and 
lauL'-hable" Engravings, .'liid !iea!-ly .'>00 fiide-extending .Tokcs. and otjier 
thia rs to get fat on ;' and the best thing of it is. that everything about the 
book is now and fresh— ;ill new— new' designs, new stories, new type— no 
comic almanac stulF. Price k,5 cts. 

The Egyptian Dream Book and Fortune-Teller. Con- 
taining au Alphabetical List of Pi'eains, and numerous methods of Telling 
Fortunes, including the celebrated Oracidum of Iv^apoleon Bonapaite. il- 
lustrated with explanatory diagrams. Boards, cloth back. Price. ..40 ct3. 

Ked Turner's Black Jokes, a ooiiootion of Funny Storiop, 

.Jolces .ind Conuialranis. iiitersjicrsed with Witty Sayings and 'Humorous 
Diilogues. .\s given by Ned Turnei-, the Celebrated Ethiopian Delineator 
and Eiiuestrian Clown. I'riee 10 CtS. 

Ned Turner's Clown Joke Book. Containing tho hest Jokes 

and Gems of Wit, composed and delivered by the favorite Equestrian Clown 
and Ethiopian Come<Haii, Ned Turner. 18mo. Price 10 CtS. 

Sam Slick in Search of a Wife. i2mo. 

Paper cover. Price 7i Ct% 



Popular Books sent Free of Postage at the Prices annezel. 
The Art and Etiquette of Making Love, a Mamidl of Love, 

Courtship Jind Matrimony. Containing' sensilile advice in relation to all the 
delicate situations and perplexing circumstances incidental to the tender 
passion from the commencement of a courtship until after marriage; to- 
gether with the duties to be fiiltilled and the points of etiquette to be olv 
served by bridesmaids and grocmisraen. and all othe*- details of the 
wedding ceremony ; wiih mnuy curious things concerning matrimony and 
its consequences ; including a complete system of love telegraphy and hand- 
kerchief flirtations, and a choice collection of sensible letters, suitable for nU 
the contingencies of k)ve and cotu-tfihip : also, practical veniMrks on bashful, 
ness, its prevention and cure. If young ladies or gentlemen want to know: 

Hoio to cure bashfidness, 

How to com>nence a courtship. 

How to carry on, a handkerchief flirtation, 

Hoiv to pleane a sweetheart or lover. 

How to iDrite a love-letter. 

How to "pop the que^tio7i,^' 

Hotc to act before and after a proposal. 

How to accept or reject a proposal, 

Hoto to break off an engagement, 

Hnw to act after an engagement, 

Hoxc to act as bridesmaid or groomgnuzn. 

How the etiquette of a tveddinq and the after reception should be observed, 
A nd in fact, how to fidfiU every fluty, and meetevery contingency connected 
with courtsliip and matrimony, they will find it nil clearly explained in tlii* 

book. Large 16mo., 176 peges, paper cover. Price SO Cte. 

Bound in boards, cloth back. Price 60 Cts. 

The Amateur Trapper and Trap-Maker's Guide, a com- 

pl(»te and oarofnlly prepared treatise on the art of Trapping. Snaring and 
iSfetting : containing plain directions for constructing t lie most approved 
Traps, Snares, Xets, and Dead-Falls; the best methods of applying them to 
their various purposes ; and the mo,--t successful Baits for altrncting all kinds 
of Animals, Birds, <fcc., with their special uses in each c.nsc; intr<Kliicing. also, 
practical receipts for preparing Skins and Furs for Market, and for Tanning 
them for future use ; with concise but comprehensive instractions for Prc- 
Kerving and Stutfing specimens of Birds and .Aniiimls in tlienui.st natural and 
durable manner. The entire work is based on the experience of t!ie west 
Buccessfiil Trappers, and on information derived from other authentic pro- 
fessional sources. By Stanley Harding, This comprehensive work is 
embcllislied with fifty well drawn and engraved illustraticms ; and these, 
together with tlie clear explanations which accompany them, will enable 
anybody of mo lerate comprehension to make and set any of the traps de- 
eci-ibed. It also gives the baits usually employed by the most succcs-sftil 
Hunters and Trappers, and exposes their secret methods of attracliiig and 
catching animals, oirds, &C., with scarcely a possibility of failure. Large 

16rao., paper covers. Price 50 cts. 

Bound in boards, cloth back 75 CtS. 

Very Little DialoG:ue8 for Very Little Folks. Containing 

forty-seven imw and original dialogues, with short and easy parts, almost 
entirely in words of one sylla!)!e, suited to the capacity and comprehension 
of very young cliildren. This work has been issued l)ecauRe it was demanded 
by thousand.s of parents and teachers who have long felt the need of such a, 
book. There are plenty of little boys and girls who want to "speak a 
piece," aitd here is a book full of exactly what they refiuirc— short and easy 
dialogues, made up of short, easy parts, on subjects that tlieir little minds 
can thoroughly understand, so that the speakers will find no difficidty hi 
committing their respective p;irts to memory, even before they have ienrncd 

to lead. Paper corers. Price 30 Ct?. 

Bound in boards, cloth back 50 ct*. 



Popular Books sent Free of Postage at t!ie ?rioca aanesei 



Howard's Book of Drawing-Room Theatricals. A collec, 

tion of twelve short and amusing plays in one act and one scene, 8]-eci:Ul). 
adapted tor private perforniuuces ; with practical directions, lor tl.eii 
preparation and manag-ement. i>ome of tlie plays are auaptL-d for per- 
tormcrsof cue sex only. Tliis book is just what is wanted by those who 
purpose getting up an entertainment of private theatricals : it contains ali 
the necessary instructions for insuring complete success. ISO pages. 

Paper cjver. Trice , 30 Cts- 

Bound in boaids with cloth back 50 ctS' 

Hudson's Private Theatricals for Home Performance. A 

collection of Ilumnrous Plays suitaole for an Amitenr Entfrtamment, with 
direct ioiis huw to carry out a performance succ.'SstuUy. Some of the pla'. » 
in this collection are adapted for performance by males only, others require 
only females for the cast, and all of them are in one scene and one act, and 
111 ly be reynesented in any moderate sized iiarlor, without much prepara- 
tion of costume or scenery. 180 pages. 

I'aper covers. Price 30 rts- 

Bound in boards with cloth back 50ct» 

The Art of Dressing Well. By Miss S A Frost. This 

book is designed for ladies and gentlemen who desire to make a favovab'a 
impression ujion society, and is intended to meet tin.' requirements of any 
season, place, or t«:ne ; to olfer such biiggestions as wiil b • valuable to thosa 
just, entering society ; to brides, for whosj (!-uid luce a complete trousseau 
u described ; to pt-rsons ia lu'iurnia r ; iadee I, to ovi'vv individual who pays 
attention to the imix)riaut objects of ecouomy, style, and propriety of cos- 
tume. 188 pages. 

I'apcr covers. I'rice 30 cts 

Bound in boards, cloth back 50 ctS 

How to Amnse an Evening Party. A complete collection 

of Home liecrcations, including Round (jamus, Porteits, Parlor Magic, 
Puzzles, and (-omio L). versions; together with a great vaiiety of Scientific 
llecreations and Evuning Amusements. Profusely illustrated with nearly 
two hundred fine woodcuts. Here is family amusement tor the million. 
Hero is parlor or drawiiig-roo.n enter' auiment, uigiit after night, for a 
whole winter A young man with this volume mny render himselt the bran 
ideal of a delightful companion at every party. He may take the lead in 
amusing the comixtny, and win the hearts of all the ladies, and charm away 
the obduracy of tlies'oniest-hearted jiar'tit, by )iis powers of entertainment. 

Bound in ornamental paper cover. Price 30 CtSi 

Bound in boards, with cloth buck 60 CtS- 

JSIIartine's Droll Dialo^'ues an:l Laughable Recitations. 

By Arthur Marline, autliorof " Martine's Letter-Writer," etc., etc. A 
collection of Humorous D.alo,'ues, Comic Uecititioiis, Bnlli:int Burlesques, 
Spirited Stump Speeches, and fjudn'rons farces, adapted lor School t'ela- 
brations and Home Amusement. 1S3 pages. 

Paper rovers. Price 30 CtS- 

Bound in boards, with clotii back .50 Ct8> 

Frost's Humorous and Exhibition Dialogues This is i\ 

collection of sprightly original Dialogue^, in Prose and Verse, intended to 
be spoken at Scliool Exhibitions, born..- of the ).ifces are tor boy.s, some for 
girls, while a number are designed to be iis'dby both sexes. The Dialogues 
are all good, and will recommeu 1 lhem;.elv.:,s to tliose who desire to have 
innocent fun -the pr'^vailing feature at a schixil Cflebration. 180 p;ief^^. 

j?apcr rover. Prico 30 CtS- 

Bound in boards 50 cto 



Popular Booki pent Free of Postage at the Prices annexed. 
Lester's "Look to the East."— (Webb Work.) a Ritnal 

of tlio First Three Defrreisof Miisonij'. (.'<ii!t;tini]ig- tlie complete work of 
the Entered Apiireutiee, Jtellon' CriUt iiiid >])iBtei' JSlabou s l)ej:rees, niid 
tlieir Cereiuouies, Lectures, etc. Edited by Ralph P. l^ester. This com- 
plete and beuiititul Pocket Manual of the First Tlirec Degrees of AlasoTiry 
18 printed in clear, lefrible type, and not obscured by any attempts at cypher 
or other perplexing contractions. It ditfers entirely from all oilier Manuals 
from the fact tliat it contains iieiclier the passwords, grips, nor any otlicr 
purely esoteric matter with whicii Ma.son.s, and Masons only, are necessarily 
entirely familiar. It affords, therefore, a ti.onmgh and valuable guide lo 
the regular 'work' in the above Degrees, divested of e\er\ thing that 
any nieraijer of the Frateruity would object to see in print, or hesitate to 
carry in i is pocket. 

It embraces the correct routine of Oiicning and Closing the Lodge in each 
Degree: calling- off and on ; calling the Lodge up and down; the regular 
Order of Business; together ■«ith the entire Ce.emonies of Initiating. 
Passing and liaising Candidates, as v ell as tlie Lectures of each Degree, all 

Ititually .and Moiutorially complete. Bound in cloth ^2 00 

Boimd m Leather Tucks (pocket-book style), gilt edges $2 60 

Dick's Eecitations and Readings. No. 1. Comprising a 

carel'nlly eiini|iilod soleetidii (^f Humorous. Pathetic. Eloquent, Patriotic and 
SentiuR-nial J'ieces in I'octry and Prose; e.\cliisi\ely designed for Pvccita- 
tion or Iteading. Edited by AVni. B. Dick. This is the tii-st of a Series, 
uniform in size and stvlc. which ^ill include everything that is fresh and 
popular, introducing also some of the older gems of the English language 
that are always in demand, but excluding everything that is not eminently 
appropriiite either for Declamation or Public Keading. Paper cover. 30 cts. 
] 6mo, full cloth 50 cts. 

rrost's Proverbs and Charades. Cnntaininsr a polloction of 

Original rrovcrlis and Ch.'irr.des, some of which are for Dramatic Per- 
fiirraaneo, and cuhers arr.nnged for I'ableaus-Vi\ar.ts. Bv S. A. Frost. 
This book eonpisis a selection of Acting Proverbs and ingenious (. ha- 
rades; a portion <.f tlnm in tlie form of short and sprightly comedies, and 
the remainder aiT;in:.;ed id be rciiresented by Tableaux, all the dctads of 
which are clearly describe 1. _ Q'liey are all taken from "The P.irlor Stage' 

by the same author. Itano, illuniinated paper cover 30 CtS. 

Bound iu boarils 50 Ct-. 

Frost's Parlor Acting Charades. Intendod poldr for Pcr- 

formnnce in the Drawing IJocto, and requiring no expensive Scenery or 
Properties to render them eliective. By S. A. Frost. _ These excellent and 
original Charades arc iiriiinged as short parU-r Comedies and Farces, full of 
brilliant repartee and amusing situations. They are selected from "The 
Parlor Stage' by the same author. ItJmo, illuminated paper cover. ..30 CtS. 
ItJmo, illuminated boards 60 CtS. 

Burton's Amatenr Actor. A Complete Guide to Private 
Theatricals; giving plain directions for arranging, decorating and lighting: 
tlie Stnce and its appurtenances ; with rules and suggestions for mounting, 
rehearsing and pcrtorming all kinds of Plays, Parlor Pantomimes and 
Shadow Pantomimes. Illustrated with numerous engravings, aud including 
a selection of original Plays, with Prologues, Epilogues, etc. By C. E. 

Burton. Kimo. illuminated" paper cover 30 CU. 

Bouud in boards 60 CU. 

Chips from TTncle Sam's Jack-knife. Illnstratpd -with over 

100 Comical Engravings, and comprising a collection of over 500 Laughable 
Stories, Funny Adventures, Comic Poetry. Large octavo. Price, ^5 CtS. 



Popular Books sent Freo of Postage at the Prices annexed. 
Day's Book-keeping Without a Master. Oontaiuiu^ the 

Rudiments of Book-keeping in Single and Double Entry, together -with the 
proper Forms and Rules for opening and keeping Condensed and General 
Book Accounts. This work is printed in a beautiful script type, and hence 
combines the advantages of a handsome style of writing with its very sim- 
ple and easily understood lessons in Book-keeping. It presents a/ac-'siinile 
of a handsomely written set of account hooks — on a small scale, it is true, 
but very neat and pretty. This v iU enable the learner to improve his 
hand-writing, whUo perfecting himself as an expert, or first-class account- 
ant — which is done by fioiiuent practice. The nook exhibits all the differ- 
ent forms of Accounts, Balance Sheets, Trial-Balance, Commercial and 
< Monetary Letters, Drafts, Kotes, Credits, Orders, Inquiries, Replies, etc., 
etc., arranged in the script type exactly as they shouhl bo written for busi- 
ness purposes. This feature makes the work invaluable as a book of refer- 
ence. The several pages have explanations at the bottom, to assist the 
learner, in small type. As a pattern for opening book-accounts it is especi- 
ally valuable — particularly for those who are not well posted in the art. 
Day's Book-keepino is the size of a regular quarto Account Book, and is 
made to lie flat open, for convenience in use. Price 50 Ct3. 

Blank Books for Day's Book-keeping. We have for sale 

Books of 96 pages each, ruled according to the patterns mentioned on page 
3 of Day'.s Book-keeping, suitable for practice of the learner, viz. : No. 1 — 
For General Book-keeping, pages 4 and 5; for Cash Account on page 13; 
for Day Book in Single Entry, pages 15 to 25. No 2 — For Condensed Ac- 
counts, pages and ](t ; for Cash Accounts, page 12 ; for Journal in Double 
Entry, pages 3-1 to -13. Ko. 3 — For Ledgers in Double or Single Entry, 
pages 2(; to 44. Price, each 50 CtS. 

How to Write a Composition. This original ^vm■k will 
be found a valuable aid in writing a composition on any topic. It lavs 
down plain direeti(ms lor the division of a snoject into its appropriate heacfs, 
and for arranging them in their natural order, commencing witli the simplest 
theme and advancing progressively to the treatment of more complicated 
subjects. The use of this excellent hand-book will save the student the 
many hours i f labor too often wasted in trying to write a plain composition. 
It alilirds a perfect skeleton of each subject, with its headings or divisions 
clearly defined, and each heading filled in with the ideas which the subject 
suggests; so that all the writer lias to do, in order to produce a good com- 
position, is to enlanre on them to suit his taste and inclination. 
IJound in board.s, cloth back. Price 50 CtS- 

Nug-ent's Burlesc-io and Musical Acting- Charades. Contain- 
ing ten Charades, all in different styles, two of which are easy and effective 
Comic Parlor Opera.s. with Music ami Pianoforte Accompaniments. These 
Plays require no scenery, and tlie diahigue is short, witty, and easy to lenrn. 
To each Charade v ill be found an introductory note, containing hints for its 

performance. Paper cover. Price 30 CtS- 

Bound in boards, cloth back 50 CtS. 

Snipsnaps and Snickerinsfs of Simon Snodsrrass. These 

funny and amusing stories are illustrative of Irish Drolleries,' Ludicrous Dutch 
Blunders, Yankee Tricks and Dodges. Backwoods Boasting, Negro Comi- 
calities, Perilous Pranks of Fighting yien. Frenchmen's Queer Mistakes, 
and other phases of eccentric eliaracter to make a complete Medley of Wit 
and Humor. Full of funny engravings. Price 25 CtS- 

The Strange and Wonderful Adventures of Bachelor But- 
terfly. Showing his Hairlireadth Escapes from fire and cold^ 
his being come over by a Widow with nine small children — and his firm 
endurance of these nod other perils of a most extraordinary nature. The 
whole illustrated by altout WO engravings. Price 30 CtS. 



Popular Books sent Free of Postage at the Prices annexsd. 
JIartine's Letter-writer and Etiquette Combined. For 

the use of Ladies and Gentlemen. 12rao., cloth, gilt side and back. A. 
great many books have been jtrinted on the subject of etiquette and cor- 
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over 300 sensible letters and notes suitable to every occasion in life, and ia 
probably the best treatise on Letter-v riting th;.t has ever been printed. It 
gives easily understood directions that arc brief and to the point. It has 
some excellent model letters of friendsliip and business, and its model 
Love Letters are uneqnaled. If any lady or gontli-mau desires to kno\v 
how to begin a love correspondence, this is Just the book they -want. Tliis 
Tolume contains tlie same matter as " ilartine's Hand-book of Etiquette," 
ami " Marline's Sensible Letter-writer," and, in fact, combines those two 
books bound together iu one substantial volume of 373 pages SI 50 

Kow's National Wages Tables. Showing at n, glance the 
amount of wages, from half an hour to sixty hours, at from Si to |37 per 
week. Also from one-quarter of a day to four weeks, at $1 to f37 ytcr 
per week. Ey Nelson How. By this "book, which is particularly useful 
when part of a week, day, or hour is h)st, a large pay-roll can be made out 
in a few miiiutcs. thus saving more time in making out one payroll than 
the cost of the book. Every cmiiloycr hiring hel;) liy the hour, day or 
week, should get a copy ; and evciy employee should also obtain one, as 
it will cn^ilile him to know exactly the amount of money he is entitled toon 

pav-da -. li'mo, 80 pages. Half bound 50 Ctl. 

('h'rth ■ 75 Ct3. 

Itoan Tuck $1.0 

The Youn;;; Reporter ; or, ITnw to Write Slmrl-Eand. A com- 
plete Phonopriphtc Teacher, intended to att'ord tliorough instnietion to 
those who have not the n.ssistanco of an Oral Teacher. I'.y tlie aid of 
this work, any person of the most ordinary intelligence may learn to writo 
Short-Hand, and report Speeches and Sermons in a short time. Bound ia 
boards, with cloth back 50 CtS. 

The Yankee Cook Book. -^ ^c-o Siixtcm of Cool-cry. Con- 
taining hundreds of excellent receipts from actual experience in Cooking; 
also, full explauatious iu the art of Carving. 12ti pages. Illuminated 

paper cover 30 C >. 

Bound iu boards, cloth back 50 Ct3. 

Mother Shipton's Oriental Dream Book. Beincj a reliabla 

Interpretation of Dreams. Visions, Apparitions, etc. Togetlier with a his- 
tory of remarkable Dreams, proven true as interpreted. Collected and ar- 
ranged from the most celebrated Musters. IGmo, 118 pages. Illuminated 
paper cover 39 CtS. 

Jack Johnson's Jokes for the Jolly. A collection of Ar- 

touishing Anecdotes, Weird "Witticism.s, Side-Splitting Stoiies. and 
Mirthful Morsels for the Melancholy. Providing a sure solace for sad- 
ness, a balm for the blues, and an active antidote against all achea 
l-.Jc' pages, IGmo. Illuminated paper cover 23 cts. 

Day's Conversation Cards. -4 Nexo Original Set, Cnmi>ris- 

itiri EitjhU'e.i Qacntwna and Twenty-four Answers, no arranged that the 
whole of the A iimverx are Apt I'l^ilies to each one of the Eiahteen (/itextio7it. 
The Set comprises forty-two Cards iu the aggregate, which aro put up in 
A handsome cafle, with printed directions for uss 30 Ctft 



Popular Eook3 sent Free of Postage al the Prices annexed 



The Americaa Homo Cook Book. Containing several hun- 
dred excellent Rpripcs. The whole basel on many years' exi)erienoe ot an 
American Housewue. Illustrated witli Kngravings. All the Kecipes la 
this book are written from actual c-xiienmeuts in Cooking. There are n'> 
copyings from theoretical cooking recipes. 

Boiaicl in boards, cloth back. Price 50 ctl 

Bound m paper covers. Price 30 cts, 

Amateur Theatricab anil Fairy -Tale Dramas. A collection 

oi original plays, expressly desiLrned lor Drawing-room portormance. By 
K. A. FiiosT. This work is designed to meet a want, which has been long 
felt, of short and amusing pieces suitable to the limited stage of the private 
parlor. The old friends of lairy-land will be recognized among the Fairy- 
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Paper covers. Price 30 Cts, 

Bound, ia boards, with cloth back 50 cts. 

Parlor Tricks with Cards. Containinc^ explanations of 
Tricks .and Deceptions with Playinf^ Cards, embracing Tricks with Cards 
performed by Sleight-of-hand, by tlie aid of Memory, Mental Calculation 
and Arrangement of the Cards, by the aid ot Confederacy ; and Tricks 
performed liy the aid of Prepared Cards. The whole illustrated and made 

filain and easy, with 70 engravings. This book is an abridgment of our 
arge work, entitled " The ^^ecret Cut." 

Paper covers. Price 30 ctS- 

Bouud in boards, with cloth back 50 CtS- 

Chesterfield's Letter-writer and Complete Book of Eti- 
quette', or, Concise, SysUmalic Directions for Arrangincj and Wrilitig Lellers. 
Also, Model Correspondence in Friendship and Business, and a great variety 
of Model Love Letters. This work is also a Complete Book of F.tiquette. 
There is more real information in this book than in half a dozen volumes 
of the most expensive ones. 
ISouud lu boards, with cloth back. Price 35 CtS. 

Frank Converse's Complete Banjo Instructor. Without a. 

Master. Containing <a choice collection of Banjo Polos, Tlompipcs, Reels, 
Jigs, Wallc Arounds, Songs, and 15;in,;o Stones, ])rogressively arranged and 
plainly explained. ISouud in boards, with cloth back. Price 50 CtS. 

The Magician's Own Bcok. Containing several hundred 
amusing Sleight-of-hand and Card Tricks, Perplexing Puzzles, Entertain- 
ing Tricks and Secret Vv'nting Explained. Illustrated with over 500 wood 
engravings. 12mo., cloth, gilt side and back stamp. Price $150 

North's Book of Love Letters. With Directions how to 

write and when to use them, and liO specimen Letters, suitable tor Lovers 
of any ago and condition, and under all circiimstances. Interspersed with 
the author's comments thereon. The v.iiole fonuing a convenient hand- 
book of valuable intormation and counsel for the use of those who need 
friendly guidance and advice in matters of Love, Courtship and Marriage. 
By Ingoldsby KoKxn. This book is recommended! to all who are from any 
cause in doubt as to the manner in w'.iieh they should write or reply to let- 
ters upon love and courtship. Tho reader will bo aided in his thoughts— he 
■will see where ho is likely to please and where to displease, how to begin 
and how to end liis letter, and liow to judge of those nice shades of expres- 
sion and teeling concerning wliirh a few mistaken expressions may create 
misunderstanding. All who wish not only to copy a love letter, but to learn 
the art of writing them, will ...id North's book a very pleasant, sensible and 
friendly companion. It is an additional recommendation that the variety 

oftered is verv large. Cloth. I'rice 75 CtS. 

JJound in boards 50 Ctft 



Popular Books sent Free of Postage at the Prices annexed. 

What Shall We Do To-Night ? or, Social Amusements for 

Ui'eninij I'ariic-i. Tbis Eieguiit i.ouk nhorils an almost inexhaustible 
fund of Aiiiuseint'iit lor Evemutj 1 :aties. bucial Uatberings, uml all Fes- 
tive Occasions, iiigouiously groupjil tJi;i'(,.ifi- ^o us to tiu-msu complete and 
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a jrreat variety of Ing-caious I'lizzle.;, lintrr.air.iiig Tricks, ami Innocent 
Sells; new and ori^.iaal Mnsical and I'ocilcal I'astiiacs, Stiirtling Ilin- 
sions, and lIirth-provokin.£7 Exhiiiitions ; inclui'.inf^ complete directions au<t 
text for performing Charades, Tableaux, I'arlor I'antdviimes, the uorld- 
reno-fl-ned J'unch and Jiidii, Gallant)/ tilioirt:. and orifriiial Shailmn PantO' 
mimes; also, full information fur the successful ]iprform:ince of Vramatia 
Dialoques and Parlor Theatricals, -with a scloetioii of Oripnal Pliys, etc., 
■fl-ritten expressly for this work. It is embellished with over one hundred 
descriptive and explanatory enpravinjrs, and contains 306 pages, printed 
ou tin y toned paper. 12mo, 'bound ia eitra cloth §2.00 

How To Conduct a Bebate. A Series of Complete Debates, 
Outlines of Llebates, and Questions for Discussion ; with referencos to the 
best sources of information on each particular topic. In the Complete 
Debates, the questions for discussion are defined, the debate formally 
opened, an aiTay of brilliant artruments adduced on either side, and tho 
debate closed aecordinji to Parliamentary usages. The second part con- 
sists of Questions lor i)cbatc, ivitk hend.s of arguments, for and ag;iinst, 
given in a condensed form for the speakers to enlarge upon to suit their 
own fancy. In adtlition to these are a large collection of good I>ebntfible 
Questions. The authorities, to be referred to for information, being gi'-eq 
at the close of every debate throughout the work, liy Frederic Ifowton. 

HJ-i pages, Ifim.o. pnper cover 50 CtS> 

Bound in boards, cloth back 75 Ctli 

McBrido's Comic Dialogues for f^chool Exldhitions and Lit- 

erarji 'hntrrtiiii:irc:i.t.y. A eOileetion of original Humorous Dialogues, est 
peei;dly designed for tlie dovelopnient and disphiy of Amateur Dramatio 
Talent, aii<l ietrixinei.'ig a viirietv of sentimental, sjnightly, comic, and 
fcnuine Tankeo characters. By ll. Elliott McBride. IGmo, iUmumated 

paper cover SOctS. 

Bound ia boards 50 cts. 

The Fireside Ma^'ician; or. The Art of Kainral ^^naic nwde 

Eaxii — being a familiar and seientilic explanation of Legerdc}nain, Pljyw- 
cal Amusement. Itecreutive Chemistry, Diversions with Cards, and of id] 
the minor mysteri(.'S of Jilechanical ^iagic, with feats as performed in iml)- 
Kc by Herr Alexander and liobert iloudin. 133 pages, 16mo, iUuininaifiJ 

paper cover SiJ cl . 

Bound in boards, cloth back 50 CtS. 

Frost's Original Letter- Writer, ami lan-s avd B>i-Lairf! of 

American Sucict;/ Combined. I5eing a complete collection of oriiruia-. 
Letters and Kotes upon every imaginable sulyect of every -day Hie. anu <k 
condensed but tliorough treatise on Ktiijuette, and its usages in America. 
This'nork includes a dictionary of synonyms especially adapted lor the use 
of correspondents. By S. A. Frost. 16mo, 378 pages, extra clotii, 
gilt 5:60 

Row's Complete Fractional Ready Reckoner. For buy- 
ing .ind selling any kind of merelumdiso, giving the fractional parts of a 
jiound, yard, etc., from one qaarter to one thousand, at any price from one- 
quarter of a cent *o fire dollars. By N^elson Bow. 
3(iu.o, v:3\! pages. Boards ,,..'. i.....f 50 Otft 



Popular Books sent Free of Postage at the Prices annexed. 

Book of Household Pets. Containinir valuable instriKaions 
about tlio Diseases, ISreediiijr, TrHininpr and Maiiacceraent of the Canary, 
Mocbiu- Bird, Brov/n Thrush, or Thraslier. aud other birds, and the reurinfj 
and management ot all kinds of Pipeons and Fancy Poullry, Kabbits, Squir- 
rels, (Juinea Pigs, White Miee and JJOiiS; tojiether with a Comprehensive 
Treatise on the Prineiple and Manaf;ement of the Salt and i'resh Water 
Aquarium, lllustraled with 1-J.; tine wood-cuts. In boards. Price. 50 Cti. 
Bound iu cloth, gilt side 75 CtS. 

Athletic Sports for Boys, a Kc])()sit<>ry of Gracciul Re- 
creitions for Youth, containing clear and complete instrnetions in Gymuas- 
tics. Limb Exercises. Jumping, Pole Leapiiig, Dumb Bells, Indian Clubs, 
Parallel Bars, the Horizontal Bar, the Trapeze, the Suspended Kopes. Skat- 
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Fcncins and Broadsword. The whole splenilidly illu.strated with 194 line 
\7ood-cuts and diagrams. Bound in boards, with cloth back. Price. ;5 ctS- 
Bound in clotli, gilt side 351 00 

The Bar-Tenrler's Guide ; or, How to Mix all Kinds of 

Paucv Drinks. Containing clear and reliable directions for mixing all the 
beverages used in the United vStates. Embracing Punches. Juleps, Cob- 
blers, Cocktails, etc., etc., in endless variety. By Jerry Thomas. With 
plain directions for making Syrups, Bitters, Cordials and Liqueurs, with the 
various harmless flavoring and coloring substances used in their preparation, 
find cjinpleto instruetijiis for Distilling. Filtering and Clarifying them. 

Illuminated paper cover 50 cts. 

Bound iu full ch)th 75 CtS. 

How to Learn the Sense of 3,000 French Words in One 

Hour. This ingenious little book actually accomplishes all tiiat its tillo 
claims. It is a fact tliat there are at least three thousand w imls in tlio 
rr<»uch language, forming a large propoi-tion of those used in ordinary cou- 
■versatiou, Avhieh are spelled exactly the same as in English, or lieeon'ie the 
same by very slight and easily understood changes in tiieir termination. 

lUmo, illuminated paper cover 2i CtS. 

Bound iu lull cloth 50 CtS. 

Barton's Comic Recitations and Humorous Dialogues. 

Coiitaiuing a variety of Comic Recitations in Prose and Poetry. Amusing 
Dialogues, Burlesque Scenes, Eeeeiitric Orations and Stump Spceclies. Hu- 
morons Interludes and Laughable Farces. Designed for School Commence- 
meats and Amateur Theatricals. Edited by Jerome Barton. This is the 
best collection of Humorous pieces, especially adapted to the parlor stage, 

that has ever been published. Hluminated paper cover. Price 30 CtS. 

Bound iu boards, with cloth back 50 CtS. 

The Secret Out; "?•, One Thousand Tricks with Cards, and 
other Jifcreations. Illustrated with over Three Hundred Engravings. A 
book which explains all the Tricks and Deceptions with Playing Cards ever 
known, and gives, beshles, a great many new ones — the "whole being de- 
scribed so carefully, with engravings to illustrate them, that anybody can 
easily learn how to perform them. This work also contains 240 of the best 
Tricks in Legerdemain, in addition to the card tricks, limo, 400 pages, 
bound in cloth, with gilt side and back. Price $1 5U 

Lanier's Expose of Odd-Fellowship. Ccntainino: .nil tho 

Lectures oomplete, witli rcgubiticnis tor Opening, Conducting and Closing a 
Lodge; together with Fonns of Initiation, Charges of the various OfHce;s, 
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2d or Covenant Degree; 3d or Royal i31ue Degree: 4th or Rem em bran- e 
Degree ; 5th or Scarlet Degree. Paper cover 25 c:s. 



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